Dispatchers’ union asks FRA to investigate ‘software failure’ in BNSF incident
Updated: Aug 9
SOURCE: By David Lassen | July 13, 2026 Trains PRO magazine
CLEVELAND — The American Train Dispatchers Association has asked the Federal Railroad Administration to investigate what it calls “a serious software failure” in BNSF Railway’s dispatching system, saying the actions of a dispatcher “prevented what could have been a catastrophic accident.”
The ATDA says in its request that BNSF knew of the system vulnerability involved for about a year and that software vendor Wabtec initially indicated it would take 14 months to correct.
BNSF said in a statement to Trains that it is “working on programing fixes to prevent the occurrence of this issue in the future,” and that it has paused use of the software in question “at the request of ATDA and as a show of good faith.”
The incident in question occurred on June 16 near Connell, Wash., on BNSF’s Lakeside Subdivision, the route connecting Pasco and Spokane, Wash. The ATDA says the trio of programs involved in dispatching “failed by authorizing a train to enter track that was already occupied by a roadway worker operating under valid dispatcher-issued track authority protection. … the dispatcher observed the software error and successfully stopped the train before it entered the occupied track.” The 146-car train involved included 20 or more cars of hazardous materials.
“This incident should serve as a wake-up call for the entire railroad industry,” ATDA President Ed Dowell said in a press release. “Technology should provide an additional layer of safety, not create new hazards that dispatchers must overcome in real time. The professionalism and vigilance of one dispatcher prevented what could have been a tragedy and serves as a reminder that technology is no replacement for our highly skilled members.”
The ATDA said it has requested “an immediate investigation including a comprehensive audit of the software systems involved, and a meeting with both FRA leadership and the agency’s Office of Chief Counsel to discuss the findings.”
It also asked that the FRA block use of Wabtec’s Auto-Router program “until it has been independently tested and verified to operate safely.” It says all three Wabtec programs involved — Movement Planner and Train Management Dispatch System, as well as Auto-Router — should have prevented the error.
“ATDA has consistently supported technological innovation that enhances railroad safety, but until these systems are proven safe, they must not be permitted to place railroad workers or the public at unnecessary risk,” Dowell said.
BNSF said in its statement that “a train dispatcher manually entered an instruction to line a switch for a movement of a train milliseconds after the dispatching software executing the same queued instruction, causing the switch to remain lined inconsistent with the track authority granted by the dispatcher. The dispatcher immediately observed the occurrence and correctly lined the switch.
“Like all railroads, BNSF relies upon overlapping layers of measures that include engineered solutions, operating rules, and training to prevent incidents from occurring,” BNSF said. “That approach worked in this instance as the dispatcher immediately and correctly resolved the issue.”
The railroad said its dispatchers use its computer-aided dispatching systems “to correctly and safely schedule and coordinate millions of individual train movements across our network every day, and the safety record of our dispatching system is well established. There has never been a train accident on BNSF caused by a defect or failure of our Computer Aided Dispatching systems.”
Wabtec, on its website, says Movement Planner has three tiers of capabilities: Network Visualization, to detect conflicts in the network and allow for their manual resolution; Network Optimization, which provides automated train meeting and passing resolution, and Auto-Routing, which automatically executes the optimization plan. It says the Train Management Dispatch System brings dispatching for centralized traffic control, track warrant control, dark territory, and positive train control into a single system.
The ATDA is among unions supporting a bill introduced earlier this year that would place dispatching software under FRA oversight [see “House bill would require FRA oversight …,” Trains.com, April 27, 2026]. Two Democrats and two Republicans are sponsors of the Safe Tracks Act; the Association of American Railroads calls the bill “unnecessary and duplicative” on top of existing FRA regulations.
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