A new group comprised of municipal officials from across the country has taken aim at railroad safety.
The group, RailWatch, held a news conference Feb. 22 in Washington, D.C., to call for congressional hearings on rail safety but said it will not lobby. Congress is expected to reauthorize federal rail safety programs this year.
RailWatch, a nonprofit, educational group based in Houston, says a rail accident occurs every 90 minutes. Executive Director Sherry Fox added that the number of rail fatalities has remained unchanged in the 1990s.
The railroad industry and the Association of American Railroads shot back, saying that railroads have been improving their safety records. In addition, some rail advocates questioned whether RailWatch’s funding is coming from the trucking industry.
RailWatch released a study by a San Francisco transportation consulting firm, M Cubed, that asserted:
- Railroad crews often don’t know if their loads include hazardous materials.
- The size of train crews has declined.
- Railroads are essentially using 1930s technology to control and track trains.
- The number of federal inspections of trains has declined as intermodal traffic has increased.
For the full story, see the March 1 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
