Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators

Construction, Maintenance & Repair

AI exposure

  • Data source: BLSPublished: 2026-08

    Low· relative

    LowFour relative bandsVery high

    Group-level value

    Scale, basis and source

    Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)

    831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band

    Source dataset (XLSX download)

  • Data source: AnthropicPublished: 2026-03

    0.000

    0.000Range of values carried here0.745
    Scale, basis and source

    Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published

    Mapped onto O*NET tasks

    Source dataset

  • Data source: ILOPublished: 2025

    0.09

    0.09Range of values carried here0.70

    Group-level value

    Scale, basis and source

    Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published

    ISCO-08 unit group — every occupation sharing the code gets this value

    Computed by this site, not published by the ILO: of the 1,012 occupations this site links to the ILO dataset, 100% score at or above this value.

    Source dataset

What kind of figure this source publishes

The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.

Task-level exposure

Values in this tab are predicted labels, not observations. Eloundou et al. (2023) published two rating regimes — human raters and GPT-4 — and the β shown here is derived from the GPT-4 rater basis alone; the same task can take a different value under the other regime.

TaskβE1 + 0.5 × E2
Patrol assigned track sections so that damaged or broken track can be located and reported.

O*NET Task ID 13643

0.0
Clean tracks or clear ice or snow from tracks or switch boxes.

O*NET Task ID 13644

0.0
Repair or adjust track switches, using wrenches and replacement parts.

O*NET Task ID 13645

0.0
Lubricate machines, change oil, or fill hydraulic reservoirs to specified levels.

O*NET Task ID 13646

0.0
Dress and reshape worn or damaged railroad switch points or frogs, using portable power grinders.

O*NET Task ID 13647

0.0
Cut rails to specified lengths, using rail saws.

O*NET Task ID 13648

0.0
Raise rails, using hydraulic jacks, to allow for tie removal and replacement.

O*NET Task ID 13649

0.0
Adjust controls of machines that spread, shape, raise, level, or align track, according to specifications.

O*NET Task ID 13650

0.0
Drill holes through rails, tie plates, or fishplates for insertion of bolts or spikes, using power drills.

O*NET Task ID 13651

0.0
Grind ends of new or worn rails to attain smooth joints, using portable grinders.

O*NET Task ID 13652

0.0
Operate track wrenches to tighten or loosen bolts at joints that hold ends of rails together.

O*NET Task ID 13653

0.0
Observe leveling indicator arms to verify levelness and alignment of tracks.

O*NET Task ID 13654

0.0
Operate single- or multiple-head spike driving machines to drive spikes into ties and secure rails.

O*NET Task ID 13655

0.0
Engage mechanisms that lay tracks or rails to specified gauges.

O*NET Task ID 13656

0.0
Clean or make minor repairs to machines or equipment.

O*NET Task ID 13657

0.0
Clean, grade, or level ballast on railroad tracks.

O*NET Task ID 13658

0.0
Drive graders, tamping machines, brooms, or ballast spreading machines to redistribute gravel or ballast between rails.

O*NET Task ID 13659

0.0
Operate single- or multiple-head spike pullers to pull old spikes from ties.

O*NET Task ID 13660

0.0
Drive vehicles that automatically move and lay tracks or rails over sections of track to be constructed, repaired, or maintained.

O*NET Task ID 13661

0.0
Turn wheels of machines, using lever controls, to adjust guidelines for track alignments or grades, following specifications.

O*NET Task ID 13662

0.0
Spray ties, fishplates, or joints with oil to protect them from weathering.

O*NET Task ID 13663

0.0
Push controls to close grasping devices on track or rail sections so that they can be raised or moved.

O*NET Task ID 13664

0.0
String and attach wire-guidelines machine to rails so that tracks or rails can be aligned or leveled.

O*NET Task ID 13665

0.0
Operate tie-adzing machines to cut ties and permit insertion of fishplates that hold rails.

O*NET Task ID 13666

0.0
Paint railroad signs, such as speed limits or gate-crossing warnings.

O*NET Task ID 13667

0.0
Weld sections of track together, such as switch points and frogs.

O*NET Task ID 20798

0.0

β = E1 + 0.5 × E2 · E1 = tasks where direct LLM access alone cuts time by at least 50%, E2 = tasks where software built on top of an LLM cuts time by at least 50%. Values take only 0 / 0.5 / 1.0.

Data sources & licenses — O*NET®, Eloundou et al. (2023): see full notices on the Credits page

Occupation information