Roger Clugston, Director of the Rail Safety Division at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), is retiring after a career spanning 52 years in California’s railroad industry. Clugston spent 24 of those years with the CPUC in Bakersfield.
Clugston began his experience with railroads as a child, traveling across California with his father who worked for Santa Fe Railroad. He later joined Santa Fe in 1973, working on track construction and maintenance before moving up to the track foreman program. During this period, he experienced both the physical demands and camaraderie of railroad work.
In the 1990s, Clugston shifted to roles as a consultant, investigator, and expert witness for railroad workers involved in accidents. He joined the CPUC as a track inspector in 2001 and was promoted to senior track inspector soon after.
“I loved it,” Clugston said. “I learned more about railroad operations, signals, and hazardous materials. The CPUC gave me autonomy to do the job and treated me well. No more missing important family events. And people listened to my ideas for improvement and training.”
CPUC inspectors are responsible for walking tracks and crossings, riding with engineers in locomotive cabs, inspecting structures, grade crossings, hazardous material transportation routes, train control systems, rail equipment and overall operations. Clugston emphasized that inspectors must maintain a regulatory posture during their work.
“You have to get confident in the skin of a regulator first,” he said. “When you’re working around the railroad, your stance is, ‘I’m not your friend, but I’m here to help.’”
He also stressed that inspectors should always refer directly to written regulations rather than quoting from memory: “Different words can change meaning,” he said.
Clugston played a key role in recommending and helping launch California’s first state railway bridge and tunnel inspection programs.
“The thing Roger brings to the people of California is the full-on commitment to public safety above all else,” said Pat Tsen, Deputy Executive Director of Consumer Policy, Transportation, and Enforcement at CPUC. “The CPUC is the only agency in the U.S. that invests in rail safety and saving lives to this level.”
In 2019 Clugston became director of CPUC’s newly organized Rail Safety Division. The division now has 125 employees overseeing safety for all 10,000 miles of freight and commuter railways across California as well as oversight over 12,000 rail crossings and local transit systems.
“This work is the highlight of my career,” Clugston said. “I came into the CPUC as an entry level inspector and moved up to director, and without a college degree. You can do anything if you’re willing to work hard for it.”
Pat Tsen noted his mentoring skills: she believes he could have been a professor due to his wide range of knowledge shared with colleagues throughout CPUC.
Beyond his professional life at CPUC Clugston has interests including music—he taught himself guitar mandolin fiddle—and hosted a folk music radio show; playwriting—he has written nineteen plays; acting—fifty-five productions; directing community theater; painting murals; portraits; among other pursuits.
As he retires from public service Clugston plans on continuing painting projects while spending time attending shows in Las Vegas.
