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FRA_logo_wordsLatest safety statistics released by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in April confirmed 2014 was the safest year on record for freight train operations in the United States, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Highlights of FRA freight rail safety data (per million train miles):

  • Since 2000, the train accident rate is down 45 percent, a new low, and the 2014 train accident rate was down 7 percent compared with 2013.
  • The track-caused accident rate has dropped 54 percent since 2000 and 12 percent from 2013.
  • The equipment-caused accident rate has dropped 44 percent since 2000 and 6 percent from 2013. 
  • The rate for human factor-caused accidents has declined 44 percent since 2000 and 4 percent from 2013. 

“The freight rail industry is working all out to prevent any train incident, large or small. It is an ongoing 24/7 commitment and our goal remains zero accidents,” said Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the AAR. “Freight railroads are always looking to further advance safety and will continue to move forward with safety-focused initiatives and cutting-edge research and development.” 

“The FRA statistics show that while freight railroads moved more products in 2014 than any time since 2007, the focus on safe train operations remained front and center through technological improvements, company-wide safety programs and ongoing record spending back into rail operations,” said Hamberger, who noted that since 1980, $575 billion has been spent on maintaining and modernizing the 140,000-mile rail system with $29 billion planned to be injected into rail infrastructure and equipment in 2015.

 

Latest safety statistics released by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in April confirmed 2014 was the safest year on record for freight train operations in the United States, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Highlights of FRA freight rail safety data (per million train miles):

  • Since 2000, the train accident rate is down 45 percent, a new low, and the 2014 train accident rate was down 7 percent compared with 2013.
  • The track-caused accident rate has dropped 54 percent since 2000 and 12 percent from 2013.
  • The equipment-caused accident rate has dropped 44 percent since 2000 and 6 percent from 2013.
  • The rate for human factor-caused accidents has declined 44 percent since 2000 and 4 percent from 2013.

“The freight rail industry is working all out to prevent any train incident, large or small. It is an ongoing 24/7 commitment and our goal remains zero accidents,” said Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the AAR. “Freight railroads are always looking to further advance safety and will continue to move forward with safety-focused initiatives and cutting-edge research and development.”
“The FRA statistics show that while freight railroads moved more products in 2014 than any time since 2007, the focus on safe train operations remained front and center through technological improvements, company-wide safety programs and ongoing record spending back into rail operations,” said Hamberger, who noted that since 1980, $575 billion has been spent on maintaining and modernizing the 140,000-mile rail system with $29 billion planned to be injected into rail infrastructure and equipment in 2015.
 

oil-train-railU.S. railroads are rallying customers, including lumber and steel companies, to fight a government proposal to slow trains hauling crude oil.

Urged by railroads, more than a dozen companies and business groups are warning regulators that cutting speeds to 40 mph from 50 mph would have a cascading effect, delaying other trains sharing the tracks carrying cargo such as furniture, grain and electronics.

Read the complete story at Transport Topics.

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U.S. railroads hauled the highest number of carloads so far this year in the week that ended Saturday (Aug. 2), partly driven by low stockpiles at US utilities and pressure from producers to move more coal.

The Association of American Railroads said Thursday (Aug. 7) that weekly coal carloads originated on all U.S. railroads totaled 116,881, up 0.1 percent from the same week a year ago and 0.8 percent from the prior week. It was the highest number of carloads since 118,391 for the week that ended Sept. 14, 2013.

Read the complete article at Platts.

An act of apparent malicious intent was discovered on July 30, 2014, when a Union Pacific carman reported finding two razor blades glued to the air valve of an Amtrak car during a routine repair.

Association of American Railroads Assistant Vice President – Technical Services James P. Grady said no injuries were reported, nor were any suspects observed at the UP San Bernardino Sub in Bloomington, Calif.

“Please give this information widespread distribution to co-workers, contractors, customers and all who deal with freight cars,and be on the lookout for any similar acts of vandalism. We also ask that anyone who makes any other such discoveries report it to me or any other AAR employee, including MID inspectors. This will enable us to broadcast alerts to all who may be affected,” Grady said.

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In June, U.S. Class Is originated 1,177,655 carloads, up 3.6 percent compared with June 2013’s total, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

U.S. carloads averaged 294,414 per week – the highest weekly average for a June since 2008, AAR officials said in a press release. Monthly carload growth averaged 4.9 percent from March through June, the highest average for any four-month period since December 2010 through March 2011, they said.

Read the complete story at Progressive Railroading.

grade_crossing_webWASHINGTON – The Association of American Railroads (AAR) June 3 announced that North America’s freight railroads will host events in multiple cities across the country in observance of the sixth-annual International Level Crossing Day (ILCAD) aimed at raising public awareness about safe behavior around railroad grade crossings.

“Safety is the foundation for everything we do, and supporting ILCAD gives railroads another opportunity to help educate the public about being safe around grade crossings,” said AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger. “Education and outreach are key to saving lives, so it’s up to all of us to spread the word and make people aware of the consequences of risky behavior around railroad tracks. One accident because someone was in a hurry or looking to save time is one accident too many.”

Across North America, freight railroads, community leaders, law enforcement and Operation Lifesaver, Inc., (OLI) are hosting grade crossing safety awareness events and conducting promotional outreach across the country. This includes things such as:

  • “Officer on a Train” rides where law enforcement officers are invited to ride on trains and observe motorist behavior at crossings;
  • train safety displays in passenger and commuter rail stations;
  • participation in local television shows and children’s programs, and
  • distribution of literature about railroad safety and a safety program targeting truck drivers.

Railroads have worked with communities and law enforcement to promote grade crossing safety and commit significant resources each year to educate the public on grade crossing and pedestrian safety. This includes the “See Tracks? Think Train!” campaign recently launched jointly by AAR and OLI.

These efforts have helped reduce grade crossing collisions and fatalities over the years, with grade crossing collisions in 2013 down 80 percent since 1980 and grade crossing fatalities down 70 percent since 1980. Grade crossing infrastructure improvements also help improve safety. Since 1980, the total number of public grade crossings has declined 40 percent, and the number of crossings with gates has increased 177 percent.

The ILCAD Campaign was established in 2009 by the international railroad community in conjunction with various highway organizations, the European Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to raise awareness among road users and pedestrians of the risks at grade crossings. To date, more than 40 countries around the world have participated in ILCAD. For more information on International Level Crossing Awareness Day, please go to www.ilcad.org.

WASHINGTON – The Association of American Railroads (AAR) issued the following statement by President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan proposal.

“While AAR is still reviewing the proposal, freight railroads are concerned about the economic consequences the rule could have for both the coal industry and the larger American economy. We must not lose sight of the energy needs required to maintain our nation’s well-being and economic competitiveness in the years ahead. EPA needs to strike the right balance between environmental goals and technological and economic feasibility, and avoid actions that undermine job growth or place American manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage in world markets.”

The Association of American Railroads issued a a safety alert for all railroads in North America after the recent discovery of a razor blade wedged into a safety appliance handhold on a covered hopper car.

The condition was discovered by a shop worker from the Anderson’s Inc. at the car repair shop located in Bay St. Louis, Miss., April 16. A photo of the condition is below.

James P. Grady, AAR assistant vice for technical services, asks that this information be widely distributed to all coworkers, contractors, customers and all who deal with freight cars.

Be on the lookout for any similar acts of vandalism.

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grade_crossing_webWASHINGTON – In a new report updating the industry’s progress on installing positive train control, the nation’s freight railroads said that a year-long moratorium on installing 20,000 communication antennas imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, followed by a lengthy federal approval process mandated by the agency, has seriously delayed the implementation of nationwide interoperable PTC. Whereas freight railroads once projected that by 2015 they would have PTC installed on 40 percent of the network mandated by FRA, they now believe thanks to the FCC issues only 20 percent of the PTC network will be up and running by the Congressionally imposed deadline.

“Everyone in the industry is greatly frustrated at the inability to move forward and do what we need to do to advance PTC installation,” said Association of American Railroads President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger. “It’s been two steps forward, three steps back for months and we simply don’t have the certainty we need to move ahead and get PTC tested, fully functioning, certified and ready to go.”

Causing the timing for installation to be delayed significantly, Hamberger said, was an FCC directive to suspend installation of approximately 20,000 communications antennas necessary to for PTC to work until the antennas are assessed through the FCC’s environmental and historical evaluation process. The problem, Hamberger noted, is that how the thousands of antennas are to be reviewed has yet to be determined. The majority of the antennas at issue are between 10- to 60-feet tall, and roughly 97 percent are located on railroad property, he added.

The freight rail industry is expected to install PTC on approximately 60,000 miles of mainline track and has spent approximately $4 billion to date implementing the automatic braking system Congress called for as part of the 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act.

AAR’s report to FRA summarizing the freight railroad industry’s progress, available here, includes an in-depth look at issues, such as delays in availability of critical back-office-server software, complexities of mapping an ever-changing nationwide rail network, and taking a phased approach to testing and implementing PTC on each railroad’s PTC network.

Hamberger noted that despite the challenges, railroads so far have been able to make progress in some areas of PTC implementation, including:

  • Installing or partially installing PTC equipment on 50 percent of the locomotives on which it will be required;
  • Deploying one third of the wayside units that will be required;
  • Replacing half of the signals needed for implementation, and
  • Mapping most of the track that will be equipped with PTC.