RAIL SAFETY

IN THE UNITED STATES

2016

www.onerail.org @ OneRailUSA
 I. Foreword, p.1
II. Transportation Safety: Rail is Safer than the Primary Competition, p.2
TABLE OF Chart I: Fatalities by Transportation Mode, p.3
Chart II: Fatalities / Billion Passenger Miles by Mode, p.4
CONTENTS Chart III: Freight Accidents per 10 Billion Ton-Miles, p.5
III. Rail Safety: Ten-Year Trends, p.6
Chart IV: 31% Decline in Train Accident Rate, p.7
Chart V: Growth in Freight and Passenger Rail Service, p. 8
a. Investment
Chart VI: Investment Improves Safety, p.9
b. Rail-Highway Grade Crossings
Chart VII: 23% Reduction In Grade Crossing Collision Rate, p.10
Section 130
Railroad Safety Campaigns
Operation Lifesaver Safety Initiatives
Driver Education
Officer on the Train
Sealed Corridors
c. Reducing Derailments
Chart VIII: Passenger Train Miles and Derailments, p.12
Chart IX: Freight Train Miles and Derailments, p.12
Track Geometry Cars
Welded Rail
Ultrasonic Rail Testing
Treated Wood Crossties
Equipment Monitoring
d. Transport of Hazardous Materials
Chart X: 72% Decline in Accidents with HazMat Release, p.14
Voluntary Speed Restrictions
Risk-Based Routing
Tank Cars
e. Employee On-duty Casualties
Chart XI: 17% Reduction in Employee On Duty Casualties (per 100 Employees), p.15
Chart XII: Railroads Cause Fewer Employment Injuries than Comparable Industries, p.16
Confidential Close Call Reporting
IV. Looking Ahead, p.17
Chart XIII: All Railroad Fatalities, p.18
Chart XIV: Cause of Train Ralated Accidents, p.18
a. Trespassing and Grade Crossing Incident Prevention
b. Safety Analysis Process (SAP)
c. Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plans
d. System Safety Program (SSP)
e. Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI)
f. Big Data
g. Phased Array
h. Positive Train Control
i. Drones
V. Conclusion, p.22
a. Additional Resources
 I. FOREWORD

OneRail is a broad coalition

of stakeholders, including rail
owners, operators, suppliers,
employees, and advocates who
have come together to act as a
voice in support of passenger
and freight rail and to expand
awareness about the critical
role rail plays in our nation’s
transportation system.
The safety of our transportation system justly receives a lot of attention. Every form of transportation
is monitored closely by industry participants, governments, and the public for fatalities and injuries
to both users and employees. Accidents can result in human tragedy and also disrupt freight and
passenger service, neither of which is acceptable.

Due to the ongoing work of railroads, their employees, customers, funding partners, and regulators,
rail is safer than its main competition and safer than it’s ever been. Trends in rail safety over the past ten
years have shown a strong and steady improvement. A variety of new initiatives are underway that will
make rail even safer going forward.

Rail plays an important role in the nation’s transportation system:

The nation’s nearly 140,000 mile freight rail network carries approximately 40% of the nation’s intercity
freight by ton-miles, including raw materials, agricultural products, finished goods, imports, and
exports. Intercity passenger rail, provided by Amtrak, serves more than 500 communities in 46 states on
more than 21,000 route miles, while commuter rail provides service to over 1,200 stations in 21 states
on 7,760 track miles. The 457-mile Northeast Corridor alone hosts 260 million intercity and commuter
rail trips annually, earning 77% of the air/rail travel market between Washington, D.C. and New York City,
and 57% of air/rail travel between New York City and Boston. Ridership on Amtrak’s national network
of state supported and long distance passenger trains accounts for more than half of total intercity
passenger rail ridership. The nation’s intercity and commuter rail systems experienced a 23% increase in
ridership over the past decade, growing at a faster pace than either air or highway travel.

While the benefits of our freight and passenger rail system are many, including economic development,
mobility, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability, this report focuses on the overall safety of
travel by rail. The report compares rail safety to other modes and industries, documents core statistics
on rail safety, highlights successful approaches that have improved the safety of travel by rail, and
points toward newer efforts to ensure that rail becomes an even safer way for freight and passengers to
travel.

The positive safety trends in rail have been achieved through collaboration between railroads, their
employees, customers, funding partners, and regulators, buttressed by significant private investment in
the freight rail network, introduction of new technologies, and public outreach.

To continue improving rail safety, the rail industry’s attention is now targeted on lowering accidents
internal to the rail network. Through improvements to rail operations and infrastructure, safer operating
practices, improved inspection technology, and data analysis to closely monitor the health of the
network, the goal is to make rail an even safer mode of transportation.

Anne Canby
Director, OneRail Coalition

1
 II. TRANSPORTATION SAFETY:
RAIL IS SAFER THAN THE PRIMARY COMPETITION

Getting people and goods

out of cars and trucks

“
and onto trains
saves lives

2
Transportation Safety: Rail is Safer than the Primary Competition

When looking at accidents and fatalities across positive, there are still far too many fatalities on an
the transportation modes, far more people die on absolute basis, and as the chart demonstrates, the
our highways than our rail systems, both because overwhelming majority of fatalities take place on
there are more people traveling on our roads and the highway system. In fact, the most recent safety
also because the accident and fatality rates for the and census data indicate that the average American
highway mode are far higher than for rail. has a lifetime risk of approximately 1 in 100 of dying
in a car accident1. Motor vehicle crashes are one of
The chart below captures transportation-related the leading causes of preventable death, and are
fatalities in the United States over the past 10 even the #1 leading cause of death for American
years, segmented by mode. While the overall teenagers2.
trend in transportation related fatalities has been

CHART I

Fatalities by Transportation Mode

45,000

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

All Highway Passenger & Freight Travel

Air (total)
Transit (total) Notes: data are total fatalities between 2005 and 2014 (most current available).
Rail Grade Crossing & Trespassing Transit Total: Includes rail and non-rail transit modes.
Source: Table 2-1: Transportation Fatalities by Mode. Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
Railroad: Train Accidents, Other US Department of Transportation. Accessed: 9.13.16

1Footnote: 1 in 84 according to http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/ 2http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html

how-scared-should-we-be/?_r=0, 1 in 113 according to http://www.iii.org/fact-
statistic/mortality-risk, 1 in 113 according to http://www.nsc.org/learn/safety-
knowledge/Pages/injury-facts-chart.aspx

3
Transportation Safety: Rail is Safer than the Primary Competition

CHART II

Fatalities / Billion Passenger Miles by Mode

212.88
Fatalities per billion Passenger Miles

10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00

Motorcycle Intercity/Amtrak Commuter Rail

Passenger Car Bus* Air Carrier

*Bus data includes transit service and intercity bus service. 6.14.16. Safety & Security Time Series Data, National Transit Database,
Graph includes all fatal accidents and miles travelled between 2004 Federal Transit Administration, US Department of Transportation:
and 2013. Source: Table 2-1: Transportation Fatalities by Mode. Accessed: 6.15.16. Yen year Accidental/Incident Overview (Commuters
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, US Department of Transportation. Only) Office of Safety Data, Federal Railroad Administration, US
Accessed: 6.14.16. Table 1-40: US Passenger-Miles (Millions), Bureau of Department of Transportation: Accessed: 6.16.16.
Transportation Statistics, US Department of Transportation. Accessed:

Rail, by contrast, is far safer. When measured by less than one third the rate of truck accidents (3.6
fatalities per billion passenger miles, riding intercity vs 11), accidents involving injuries are one fifth as
passenger rail (.873) or commuter rail (.3733) is on frequent, and property damage accidents are 62
average more than 10 times safer than riding in a times less frequent.
passenger car (7.0333).

Looking at freight accidents per 10 billion ton-miles,

fatal accidents involving freight rail take place at

3https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_02_01.html and http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/

sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_40.html

4
Transportation Safety: Rail is Safer than the Primary Competition

CHART III

Freight Accidents per 10 Billion Ton-Miles

900
Number of Acidents

771

800
700
600
500
400
221
300
200
45.4
100 3.6 11 12.4

0
Fatal Accidents Injury Accidents Property Damage Only
Accidents

Source: Oliver Wyman, Parsons

Brinckerhoff analysis of FRA, Rail Truck
FMCSA, U.S. DOT Data, 2014

These differences in fatality and accident rates motor vehicle could be shifted to intercity
highlight the value of taking a broader look at passenger or commuter rail, approximately
how we travel. From a safety perspective, goods 200 lives would be saved each year.
and people face a higher risk of accident, injury
or fatality when traveling by the main competing Increasing market share for rail would have a
modes of surface transportation, truck or significant impact on transportation safety.
passenger vehicle, compared to freight and If federal and state governments invested
passenger rail. Simply put, getting more people their transportation funds and regulated their
and goods out of cars and trucks and onto trains transportation modes with the explicit public
would save lives. policy goal of increasing freight and passenger
rail utilization, hundreds if not thousands of
For instance, the data demonstrates that for every lives would be saved every year.
10 billion ton-miles of freight that we could shift
from highway to rail (approximately a one half of
one percent increase in freight rail volumes), more
than 7 lives would be saved. On the passenger side,
if just one percent of the nation’s approximately
three trillion annual vehicle miles traveled by

5
 III. RAIL SAFETY:
TEN YEAR TRENDS

Investment in rail infrastructure,

“
particularly track and equipment,
plays a key role in preventing accidents

6
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

% Safety trends
over the past 10 years:
31% Decline in train accident rates
33% Decline in derailment rates
23% Decline in grade-crossing incidents
72% Decline in release of hazardous materials
17% Decline in employee casualty rates

Rail safety has been trending in the right direction

over the past ten years even as passenger rail traffic
has grown and freight rail traffic has held steady.
The accident rate for rail has declined 31% since
2006, making a safe mode of transportation even
safer. This is reflected in the decline in derailments,
collisions, and all other types of accidents for both
forms of service.
CHART IV

31% Decline in Train Accident Rate

4
Accidents per Million Train-Miles

3.5
3
2.5 Train Accident Rate
2
Derailments
1.5
1
Other Accidents
0.5
0 Collisions

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: FRA Safety Data, Ten Year Overview as of June, 2016. Excludes crossing accidents.

7
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

CHART V

Growth in Freight and Passenger Rail Service

Intercity and Commuter Passenger Train-Miles

23% Increase in Intercity
and Commuter Rail Services

2,000,000,000.00 19,000
18,000
1,900,000,000.00 17,000
1,800,000,000.00 16,000
Revenue Ton-Miles

15,000
1,700,000,000.00
14,000
1,600,000,000.00 5% Increase in 13,000
Freight Rail Service 12,000
1,500,000,000.00
11,000
1,400,000,000.00 10,000
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Revenue Ton-Miles of Freight* Commuter and Intercity Passenger Rail Service

*12 months ended March 31 of each year – All Class I Railroads

Source: Surface Transportation Board. “Quarterly Earnings Report.” http://www.stb.dot.gov/econdata.nsf/, 2005-2015 and; “Train Accident Rate
Trends.” safetydata.dot.gov/officeofsafety/publicsite/query/acctrend.aspx: Federal Railroad Administration - Office of Safety Analysis, 1979-2015.
U.S. Passenger Mile (Millions), U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistic, 2014

What has contributed to this trend?

There are a number of factors that have led to the

decline in the accident rate for rail. The condition of
rail infrastructure, particularly track and equipment,
plays a key role in preventing accidents, as has the
implementation of new technology over the past
decade.

Much of that technology was developed at the

Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), a
world-class transportation research and testing
organization, providing technology solutions for
the freight and passenger railway industry. TTCI,
with its 48 miles of test track, has played a key
role in the development of technologies such
as communications-based train control, positive
train control, wheel rail interface management,
instrumented wheelsets, vehicle and track
components, signaling/safety devices, trackside
acoustic detection systems, and performance
monitoring data collection and analysis systems. than $200 billion over the last 10 years to improve the overall
condition and capacity of their networks, leading to a safer
a. Investment and more efficient network. In 2015 alone, their combined
maintenance and capital expenditure investments on rail
Privately owned class I freight railroads have spent more infrastructure and equipment were over $30 billion.

8
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

CHART VI

Continued Investment Improves Safety

Accidents per Million Train-Miles

Cumulative Investment in Rail Infrastructure ($b)

$250 4.5

$200 4

$150 3.5

$100 3

$50 2.5

$0 2
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Investment Accidents

Note: Investment data includes all Class 1 Railroad CapEx and Maintenance for Roadway & Structures and Equipment, Capital Expenditures by
Commuter Rail, and Amtrak capital grants. Sources: “Accidents in Descending Frequency by Cause” in 2.09 Train Accidents and Rates, FRA Office of
Safety Analysis; “Railroad Ten-Year Trends” from AAR, 2004-2013, 2006-2015; “2015 APTA Factbook” pg 208; “Amtrak Capital Grants” from FRA records

While capital is far more constrained and b. Rail-Highway Grade Crossings

unpredictable for Amtrak and the nation’s 28
commuter railroads, they and their state and local The collision rate at rail-highway crossings has
partners nonetheless invested more than $4 billion declined by 23% over the past 10 years.
in federal, state, local, and self-generated sources in
2014, which improved safety and reliability.
What has contributed to this trend?
A more specific look at certain areas provides
Over the years, through increased attention from
a greater understanding of how rail safety has
states, railroads, and communities, crossings have
improved.
been consolidated, signage has been improved,

9
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

CHART VII

23% Reduction In Grade Crossing Collision Rate

4
3.616

3
Collision per Million Train-Miles

2.797

0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: FRA Saftey Data, Ten Year Overview as of June, 2016

new warning devices have been added, and over

time an increasing number of motorists have begun
to understand the dangers inherent in crossing live
railroad tracks.

SECTION 130
The federal program for railway-highway grade
crossing safety (known as Section 130) provides
states with dedicated funding to improve crossing
safety. The states take responsibility for evaluating
grade crossing risks and prioritizing grade crossings
for improvement, including the decisions to install
specific types of warning devices at particular
public grade crossings. The program has provided
approximately $2 billion over the past decade, and
states and railroads will continue to partner into
the future to effectively invest these funds.

RAILROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGNS

In 2007, Norfolk Southern launched their ‘Train
Your Brain’ safety campaign to raise public
awareness about the dangers at rail crossings and
on railroad property. Brainy is a silent safety sentry
who without saying a word helps train people
to be smart around grade crossings and railroad
property. To date, the campaign has run in TN, NC,
IN and OH.

10
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

OFFICER ON THE TRAIN

OPERATION LIFESAVER SAFETY INITIATIVES This program on the BNSF Railroad gives local law
enforcement officers the opportunity to observe
Operation Lifesaver (OLI) is a nonprofit public
motorist and pedestrian behavior from the cab of
safety education and awareness organization
a locomotive to learn about grade crossing safety
dedicated to reducing collisions, fatalities and
laws and get a sampling of compliance levels.
injuries at highway-rail crossings and trespassing
When they spot a violation, they contact patrol
on or near railroad tracks. OLI produces Public
units on the ground to enforce it. The experience
Service Announcements (PSAs) for radio and TV,
also gives them a better understanding of how
is active on social media, develops educational
trains operate. Traffic citations or warnings are
videos, provides interactive e-Learning programs
often issued as part of these exercises.
for professional drivers and school bus drivers,
publishes educational brochures and posters, SEALED CORRIDORS
and offers free in-person presentations by their Many railroads, in collaboration with states and
authorized volunteers in most areas of the country. local communities, have undertaken long-term
Over 2,000 Operation Lifesaver authorized efforts to remove as many highway-rail grade
volunteers make safety presentations in their crossings as possible, with some states looking
communities, reaching over 2 million people per to create “sealed corridors” in areas of particularly
year. The organization has signature taglines for dense or fast-moving train traffic.
rail crossing safety and trespass prevention such
as “Look, Listen and Live,” “Stay Off, Stay Away, Stay For example, the North Carolina Department
Alive,” and “See Tracks?, Think Train!” of Transportation Sealed Corridor Program,
in partnership with the Federal Railroad
DRIVER EDUCATION Administration and Norfolk Southern Railroad,
Amtrak developed a film, Cheating Death, to works with communities along the Raleigh-
warn teen drivers of the dangerous consequences Charlotte corridor to eliminate or improve rail-
of failing to obey highway-rail grade crossing highway grade crossings by using enhanced
signals. The video features real footage from traffic control devices, crossing closures, and
dozens of actual and near-miss grade crossing grade separations to enhance safety and reduce
and trespassing incidents, and serves as a stark accidents between train and automobile traffic. In
warning to new drivers. It is shown as part of driver 1992, only 30% of the state’s 5,000 public railroad
education programs. In addition, OLI uses the crossings had flashing lights and gates. Today,
video as part of their prevention outreach efforts.

11
 Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

automatic warning devices are in place at 60% of the Sealed Corridor save an estimated 20 lives over
the now 4,100 public crossings in North Carolina, a ten-year period.
meaning the number of unprotected crossings
has dropped more than 50% since 1992, from c. Reducing Derailments
3,500 to 1,640. The effectiveness of the crossing
safety improvements has been validated by video There has been a marked decline in derailments,
monitored tests which showed a 67-98% reduction even as passenger ridership has increased and
in gate violations, depending on the enhanced freight volumes have been steady over the last ten
treatments. Based on Fatal Crash Analysis by the years.
USDOT Volpe Center, the projects implemented on
CHART VIII - IX

uch smaller Passenger Train Miles and Derailments

ually see
1,000
Derailments

Train Miles
750
300,000,000
500 200,000,000
nes for the 250 100,000,000
lled in 0 0
better, filled 2006 2009 2012 2015
with just a Total Passenger Train Miles Passenger Train Derailments

ailments Source: FRA Office of Safety Analysis, Tables 1.02 and 1.12

Freight Train Miles and Derailments

Derailments

Train Miles
2,500 800,000,000
700,000,000
2,250

2,000
uets: 1,750
600,000,000
1,500 500,000,000
or the 1,250
400,000,000
1,000 300,000,000
750

500 200,000,000
250 100,000,000
0 0
2006 2009 2012 2015
using
Total Freight Train Miles Total Freight Train Derailments
for both
so it's
Source: FRA Office of Safety Analysis, Tables 1.02 and 1.12

tand the 12
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

What has contributed to this trend? ULTRASONIC RAIL TESTING assists in detecting
a variety of microscopic irregularities, such as
TRACK GEOMETRY CARS enable the use of transverse defects, vertical split heads, and rail joint
high-tech sensors to detect track alignment failures. This testing, done by sophisticated hi-rail
defects, track surface defects, gauge defects, cross vehicles moving at speed across the rail network,
level defects, and other dangerous conditions. The expands the miles of track inspected per day.
ability to detect defects when they are only minor
allows maintenance crews to make repairs at the
first sign of deterioration, reducing the possibility
of defects causing a derailment.

TREATED WOOD CROSSTIES have been a major

component of rail infrastructure for over 150 years,
WELDED RAIL provides a continuous, smooth- and improvements to them have contributed to this
running surface for trains and eliminates vulnerable safety trend. Research has led to innovative “dual-
rail joints. High quality welded rail allows heavier treatment” for wood, which not only extends the
and faster trains to operate more safely than ever life of wood crossties, but also inhibits corrosion in
before. To date, more than 108,000 miles of welded metal spikes used to fasten rail to track, leading to
rail have been laid by the Class 1 railroads alone. advancements in rail-to-tie fastener performance.
Almost 100% of Amtrak-owned track is welded rail. Railroads have combined this technology with their
own data and experience to optimize maintenance
practices over the past decade.

EQUIPMENT MONITORING technologies such

as wayside detectors, wheel and profile monitors,
and trackside acoustic detector systems can
identify potential problems before accidents

13
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

CHART X

72% Decline in Accidents with HazMat Release

0.030

0.020
Accidents per 1000 Carload

0.010

0.000
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Source: AAR Analysis of FRA Train Database. Carload from ICC/STB Waybill Sample through 2013 and Bureau of Explosives Annual Report for 2014.

occur, allowing railroad employees to address the Urban Areas.

issue and keep the system running safely.
Railroads use a RISK-BASED ROUTING protocol,
d. Transport of Hazardous known as the Rail Corridor Risk Management
System, which evaluates 27 risk factors to assign
Materials the most safe and secure route for trains moving
Accidents involving hazardous materials have hazardous materials.
declined by 72% over the last decade.
TANK CARS built today are vastly improved over
What has contributed to this trend? earlier generations, with higher grade steel, better
thermal protection, improved valves and fittings,
Investments in rail infrastructure and improvements and often thicker tanks. A new federal rule set even
noted above such as track geometry cars, welded tougher standards for new tank cars going forward
rail, ultrasonic rail testing, wood crossties, and and ordered that existing tank cars that carry
equipment monitoring help to decrease all types flammable liquids be retrofitted with enhanced
of derailments, including HazMat accidents. safety features or phased out.
Enhanced track inspection for routes carrying a
certain amount of hazmat each year and ever-safer
rail cars are among the targeted improvements
aimed specifically at HazMat safety. In addition,
stronger safety protocols such as voluntary speed
restrictions and risk-based routing have reduced
the frequency and severity of accidents with a
release of hazardous material.

SPEED RESTRICTIONS to 40 mph are in place

for key trains carrying crude oil in High Threat

14
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

e. Employee on duty Casualties

The employee casualty rate has declined 17% since
2006 – a significant accomplishment in an outdoor
heavy-industry profession that employs over
200,000 workers.

What has contributed to this trend?

CONFIDENTIAL CLOSE CALL REPORTING

SYSTEMS (C3RS) are voluntary confidential
programs allowing railroad carriers and their
employees to report close calls. These programs
are designed to provide a safe environment for
employees and railroads to report unsafe events
and conditions, allowing all parties to focus on
analyzing close calls and determining corrective
actions. In addition to the involvement of rail
carriers and employees, expertise is provided by the
FRA, NASA, and the Volpe Center. The C3RS system
can produce valuable safety data that would not
otherwise be available. Amtrak formalized this
policy with their UTU and BLET labor partners in
2010.

CHART XI

17% Reduction in Employee On Duty Casualties (per 100 Employee)

2.5
On Duty Casualties per 100 Employee

1.812
2
2.178
1.5

0.5

0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: FRA Saftey Data, Ten Year Overview as of June, 2016

15
Rail Safety: Ten Year Trends

Railroads also have a better employee safety record than many other industries and transportation modes.

CHART XII

Railroads Cause Fewer Employee Injuries than Comparable Industries

.03 80

Non-Fatalities per 1000 FTE

.25 70
60
Fatalities per 1000 FTE

.02
50
.15 40
.01 30
20
.05
10
.00 0

Air Transportation Taxi & Limo Drivers Construction Rail Transportation

Agriculture Truck Transportation Mining

Fatality / 1000 Employee Non-Fatal / 1000 Employee

Source: National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2014. Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. Accessed: 6.17.16. Employer-
Reported Workplace injuries and Illnesses, 2014. 1.02 Operational data Tables, and 2.05 Employee On Duty Casualty Rates. Office of Safety Analysis,
Federal Railroad Administration, US Department of Transportation, 2014.

16
 IV. LOOKING AHEAD

As the phased array ultrasound detection unit pulses electronic

signals towards the rail, safety experts inside the inspection vehicle
will monitor real-time feedback on computer screens. These

“
inspection vehicles will travel the network, regularly monitoring the
health of the nation’s rail system.

17
Looking Ahead

CHART XIII CHART XIV

All Railroad Fatalities Cause of Train Related Accidents

Track, 27%
Grade Crossing
Fatalities 31%
Trespasser
Fatalities 61%
Human Factor, 40%

Note: Data excludes highway-rail grade crossings and

accidents involving trespassers. Source: “Train Accident
Rate Trends,” Office of Safety Analysis, Federal Railroad
Source: FRA Safety Data, 2015 Administration, US Department of Transportation, 2015.

As demonstrated throughout this paper, rail a. Trespassing and Grade Crossing

transportation is a safer way to travel in comparison Incident Prevention
to the primary alternatives - personal vehicles and
trucks. Within rail itself, safety has been consistently Operation Lifesaver will continue to focus on
improving over the last decade, and the trends educating the public about the risks of trespassing
are pointing in the right direction. However, there near railroad tracks.
are still accidents and fatalities within the system,
which must be eliminated.

Understanding where fatalities and accidents occur

helps to identify where more needs to be done to
continue the positive trends of the past ten years.

An overwhelming majority, 92%, of rail accidents

involving fatalities are the result of trespassing
on rail property or highway-rail grade crossing
accidents. Trespassing along railroad rights-of-
way is the leading cause of rail-related deaths
in America. Nationally, more than 400 trespass
fatalities occur each year, the majority of which are
suicides.

Of all train-related accidents (other than grade

crossings), about two-thirds are caused by either
human factors or track-related defects. Continued
research, investment and innovation will focus
on these areas, with a goal of further reducing
accidents and fatalities.

Examples of new areas that are being pursued

include:

18
Looking Ahead

In particular, OLI will begin focusing on the problem Administration to develop and distribute to
of individuals taking photographs of friends on each state a model of a state-specific highway-
railroad tracks, and also the growing prevalence of rail grade crossing action plan. This plan must
‘selfies.’ include methodologies, tools, and data sources to
identify and evaluate highway-rail grade crossing
In addition to OLI’s efforts, many railroads have safety risks, including the public safety risks posed
begun to make use of social media to engage the by blocked highway-rail grade crossings due
public on the dangers of trespassing and stopping to idling trains, best practices for reducing the
on tracks at crossings. risk of highway-rail grade crossing accidents or
incidents, and complete information on highway-
An Emergency Notification System (ENS) sign is rail grade crossing accidents or incidents. The
located at every highway-rail grade crossing. The states, in turn, are required to update or develop
purpose of the sign is to educate everyone to use the and implement their highway-rail grade crossing
ENS number should they see any type of situation action plan identifying high risk crossings and
that the railroad needs to address or which requires specific strategies to improve safety at crossings.
stopping railroad traffic to avert an accident, such The award of rail grants may be conditioned on a
as: (1) malfunctions of warning signals, crossing state submitting an acceptable action plan.
gates and other safety devices at the crossings; (2)
disabled cars, trucks or other vehicles blocking the c. Safety Analysis Process
railroad tracks at the crossings; (3) the presence of
trespassers on the tracks or along the right of way at Some labor unions and railroads have implemented
the crossing; and (4) any other information relating new safety management processes intended to
to an unsafe condition at the crossing. Amtrak has foster a stronger and more robust safety culture.
For instance, the Union Pacific Railroad and the
recently launched an education
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
campaign encouraging the
have created a Safety Analysis Process which
writers of state driver’s education
establishes dedicated safety coaches and advanced
manuals to include information
training of employees with the goal of identifying
on the ENS in the manual.
and eliminating factors that lead to safety-related
The United States Department of Transportation’s rule violations. The railroad and its employees work
John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems together to analyze the factors in any given event,
Center (Volpe Center) is conducting a trespass develop and implement a corrective action plan
prevention research study to document best to reduce the chance of re-occurrence, provide
practices and lessons learned for implementation scheduled follow-ups, and collect and analyze data
and evaluation of trespass prevention strategies on to make sure the system is working as intended.
the rail network in West Palm Beach, Florida. Volpe
is developing a set of national recommendations
based on the community based trespass problem-
solving process4.

b. Highway-Rail Grade Crossing

Action Plans
The new FAST Act requires the Federal Railroad

4Footnote: https://www.volpe.dot.gov/infrustructure-systems-and-technology/
systems-safety-and-engineering/preventing-rail-trespass

19
Looking Ahead

d. System Safety Program (SSP) and regional railroads’ focus on safety culture by
combining onsite assessments with education,
training and research. SLSI will assess the operations
and safety programs of short line railroads,
develop best practices and work with short lines
and regionals to implement these practices, and
help improve safety culture and safety knowledge
across the short line industry.

f. Big Data

The rail industry is expanding the Asset Health

Strategic Initiative program to compile and
analyze massive amounts of data collected across
multiple railroads in order to gain more complete
information and make better decisions regarding
the maintenance, care and operation of rail cars,
with the goal of improving rail safety.

The recently issued SSP rule requires passenger In addition, individual railroads collect vast
railroads to implement a defined and measurable troves of data from equipment monitoring and
safety culture, identify potential safety hazards in inspection technologies, which allows them to
their operations and work to reduce or eliminate make predictive and proactive risk-reduction
those hazards, and document and demonstrate decisions regarding the maintenance of rail cars,
how they will achieve compliance with FRA locomotives, and track infrastructure.
regulations. Proactively identifying potential safety
hazards will help prevent safety problems from
g. Phased Array
escalating, resulting in fewer incidents, injuries and
deaths. Phased array ultrasound
technology will improve on
existing ultrasonic rail inspection
techniques, and allow railroads
to identify essentially every
track imperfection and
overcome the challenges faced
with conventional ultrasound
inspection, such as inconclusive
results from worn rails. This
will involve a sophisticated,
custom-built computer system
and accompanying software to
interpret the results. Inspectors
will be able to use phased
array ultrasound to examine a rail from multiple
angles simultaneously. Like traditional ultrasound
e. Short Line Safety Institute inspection techniques, phased array units will be
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad installed on the underbelly of inspection vehicles
Association’s (ASLRRA) newly formed Short Line and driven down rail tracks. As the phased array
Safety Institute (SLSI) will heighten the short line unit pulses electronic signals towards the rail,

20
Looking Ahead

safety experts inside the inspection vehicle will difficult terrain, or extreme weather, allowing
monitor real-time feedback on computer screens. for safer and more effective deployment of rail
These inspection vehicles will travel the network, workers. Several other Class 1 freight railroads are
regularly monitoring the health of the nation’s rail gearing up to incorporate drones, including Union
system. Pacific, which last year secured FAA approval to
use drones for aerial data collection. The company
h. Positive Train Control also is assessing using drones for hard-to-do
inspections, such as those of elevated bridges
Positive Train Control technology is designed to and several hundred feet tall telecommunications
avoid certain train accidents. When fully installed antennas.
and operational, PTC will prevent train-to-train
collisions, derailments due to excessive speed,
entry on track where maintenance activities are
underway, and the improper movement of a train
through a switch. PTC will supplement existing
train control systems.

Freight railroads, Amtrak, and the states have spent

more than $6.7 billion since 2008 developing and
implementing positive train control. By the time the
technology is fully implemented, freight, intercity
and commuter railroads combined expect to have
spent over $13 billion on this unprecedented safety
undertaking. As an example of the magnitude of
this safety initiative, the New York Metropolitan
Transportation Authority secured a $967 million
FRA RRIF loan in May 2015 just to cover the costs of
installing positive train control on the Metro North
and Long Island Rail Road commuter rail systems.

i. Drones
BNSF Railway is one of the first three companies
in the United States participating in the FAA-
sponsored “Pathfinder” program to explore
commercial use of drones beyond operations
proposed in the FAA’s Part 107 Unmanned Aircraft
Systems rules. BNSF is using drones to inspect
sections of the rail network that are difficult to
access from the ground due to natural disasters,

21
 V. CONCLUSION

Increasing market share for rail

“
by getting more goods and people onto trains
would save lives.

To make safety truly the top priority in transportation, it’s time to

take a broader look at how we travel. Putting greater emphasis on
moving people and goods by commuter, intercity and freight rail
would be a good first step. Rail is safer than its main competition
and safer than it’s ever been. A host of new initiatives are underway
that will make rail even safer going forward. Simply put, increasing
market share for rail by getting more goods and people onto trains
would save lives and reduce injuries, significantly improving the
overall safety of the nation’s transportation system. The recently
enacted FAST Act takes some positive steps in this direction, but
there is still much more to do.

22
Conclusion

a. Additional Resources
• American Public Transportation Association:
www.apta.com/resources/safetyandsecurity/Pages/safetycorner.aspx
• American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association: www.aslrra.org/web/Safety
• Amtrak: www.amtrak.com/ccurl/400/323/2015-Amtrak-Sustainability-Report.pdf
• Association of American Railroads: www.aar.org/todays-railroads/safety
• Federal Railroad Administration (FRA): www.fra.dot.gov
• NASA Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS): http://c3rs.arc.nasa.gov
• National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association: www.nrcma.org/safety
• Operation Lifesaver, Inc: www.oli.org
• RSI Committee on Tank Cars Resource Center: www.tankcars.rsiweb.org
• Transportation Technology Center, Inc: www.ttci.aar.com
• United Transportation Union: www.utu.org/safety

23
 ABOUT THE ONERAIL COALITION

OneRail is a diverse group of rail stakeholders who have

come together to educate America about the benefits of
a strong freight and passenger rail system. Our members
include the American Association of Private Railroad
Car Owners (AAPRCO), American Public Transportation
Association (APTA), American Short Line and Regional
Railroad Association (ASLRRA), Amtrak, Association of
American Railroads (AAR), Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Brotherhood of
Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE), Brotherhood
of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), National Association
of Railroad Passengers (NARP), National Railroad
Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC),
Railway Supply Institute (RSI), SMART Transportation
Division, States for Passenger Rail Coalition (S4PRC),
Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), and the
Transportation Communications International Union/
International Association of Machinists (TCU/IAM).

Our Corporate Supporters include AECOM, Alstom,

Caterpillar, General Electric, HNTB, WSP | Parsons
Brinckherhoff, and Siemens. These global companies
represent the engineering and manufacturing sectors
that are an essential component of private sector job
creation in the transportation industry in the United
States.
www.onerail.org @ OneRailUSA