Certification: Conductor Certification

United States Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) external site

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC, 20590

FRA's rule for certification of conductors, as required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, was issued to ensure that only those persons who meet minimum Federal safety standards serve as conductors, to reduce the rate and number of accidents and incidents, and to improve railroad safety. The rule requires railroads to have a formal program for certifying conductors. As part of that program, railroads are required to have a formal process for training prospective conductors and determining that all persons are competent before permitting them to serve as a conductor. The rule prescribes minimum Federal safety standards for the eligibility, training, testing, certification and monitoring of all conductors to whom it applies. The rule does not restrict a railroad from adopting and enforcing additional or more stringent requirements consistent with the rule. The conductor certification requirements prescribed in the rule apply to any person who meets the definition of conductor contained in the rule, regardless of the fact that the person may have a job classification title other than that of conductor.

The certification has an education level of an Associates of Arts or Associates of Sciences degree or higher and has a work experience requirement of more than 2 years, or requires obtaining a ‘core’ level certification from the same organization.