In this part—

(1) “Class I railroad”, “Class II railroad”, and “Class III railroad” mean railroad carriers that have annual carrier operating revenues that meet the threshold amount for Class I carriers, Class II carriers, and Class III carriers, respectively, as determined by the Surface Transportation Board under Section 1201.1-1 of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations.

(2) “railroad”—

(A) means any form of nonhighway ground transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic guideways, including—

(i) commuter or other short-haul railroad passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area and commuter railroad service that was operated by the Consolidated Rail Corporation on January 1, 1979; and

(ii) high speed ground transportation systems that connect metropolitan areas, without regard to whether those systems use new technologies not associated with traditional railroads; but

(B) does not include rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportation.

(3) “railroad carrier” means a person providing railroad transportation, except that, upon petition by a group of commonly controlled railroad carriers that the Secretary determines is operating within the United States as a single, integrated rail system, the Secretary may by order treat the group of railroad carriers as a single railroad carrier for purposes of one or more provisions of part A, subtitle V of this title and implementing regulations and order, subject to any appropriate conditions that the Secretary may impose.

(4) “safety-related railroad employee” means—

(A) a railroad employee who is subject to chapter 211;

(B) another operating railroad employee who is not subject to chapter 211;

(C) an employee who maintains the right of way of a railroad;

(D) an employee of a railroad carrier who is a hazmat employee as defined in section 5102(3) of this title;

(E) an employee who inspects, repairs, or maintains locomotives, passenger cars, or freight cars; and

(F) any other employee of a railroad carrier who directly affects railroad safety, as determined by the Secretary.