49 CFR § 234.213 - Grounds.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t49/s234.213"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "49 CFR § 234.213 - Grounds."
title_number: 49
title_name: "Transportation"
section_number: "234.213"
section_name: "Grounds."
chapter_name: "FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION"
part_number: "234"
part_name: "GRADE CROSSING SAFETY"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "49 U.S.C. 20103, 20107, 20152, 20160, 21301, 21304, 21311, 22907 note; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note; and 49 CFR 1.89."
regulatory_source: "61 FR 31806, June 20, 1996, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "234"
---


# 234.213 Grounds.

(a) *General.* Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, each circuit that affects the proper functioning of a highway-rail grade crossing warning system shall be kept free of any ground or combination of grounds that will permit a current flow of 75 percent or more of the value necessary to retain a permissive state of a safety appliance.

(b) *Exception.* Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to the following:

(1) Circuits that include track rail;

(2) Alternating current power distribution circuits that are grounded in the interest of safety;

(3) Circuitry internal to microprocessor-based appliances;

(4) Circuitry internal to semiconductor-based memory; and

(5) Common return wires of grounded common return single break circuits.

[79 FR 49715, Aug. 22, 2014]