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FRA

FRA Train Accident Investigation Reports Now Publicly Available Online

WASHINGTON — To increase public awareness about the causes of specific train accidents and to reduce the need for individuals to submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is for the first time making its investigation reports of major train accidents and other incidents available online, FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced. “There’s no reason that anyone who’s interested shouldn’t be able to find out the probable cause of a train accident,” said Boardman, explaining that formal FRA accident investigation reports generally focus on high-consequence train-to-train collisions, derailments, certain highway-rail grade crossing collisions, and all

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Commuter Rail

FRA Announces Guide for Managing Gap Safety at Passenger Rail Platforms

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a guidance document to help minimize accidents due to gaps between the edge of a passenger station platform and the threshold of a passenger train door. FRA Approach to Managing Gap Safety addresses the use of engineering evaluation and analysis to establish gap standards and the application of strategies to prevent and reduce gap accidents. While most gap incidents involving rail passengers result in relatively minor injuries, FRA believes the most effective way to address the potential risks is for railroads to develop and adopt a comprehensive program to manage gap

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FRA

FRA Releases Demographic Report on Rail Trespasser Fatalities

WASHINGTON — Trespassers account for the largest number of fatalities in the railroad industry — approximately 500 per year. In order to better understand who is trespassing, their locations, and the reasons they are on railroad property, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a report using three years of reported trespasser fatalities. Medical examiners and coroners across the country were surveyed, and based on the best information available from those who elected to participate in the study, the average trespasser is most often a 38-year-old white male under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, with a median household income of

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FRA

DOT: Proposal Revolutionizes Rail Hazmat Tank Car Safety

WASHINGTON — The safety of rail tank cars that carry the most dangerous hazardous materials will be dramatically improved under the most sweeping and revolutionary proposal in decades, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced. “This proposal is designed to significantly reduce the hazard of hauling hazardous materials by rail,” Peters said, explaining the performance-based standard will increase by 500 percent on average the amount of energy the tank car must absorb during a train accident before a catastrophic failure may occur. The proposal requires tank cars carrying Poison Inhalation Hazard (PIH) commodities such as chlorine and anhydrous ammonia

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FRA

Train Accidents Decline for Third Consecutive Year, Other Rail Safety Data Improves

WASHINGTON — The number of train accidents across the Nation declined for the third consecutive year according to preliminary 2007 data released by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. “Our strong focus on improving rail safety is achieving significant results for three years running now,” Peters said, noting there has been 833 fewer train accidents, or a 24.6 percent reduction when comparing the period from 2004 to 2007. Peters stressed that some of the safety gains are attributable to aggressive implementation of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) National Rail Safety Action Plan first launched in May 2005. It

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Commuter Rail

New Grant Program Provides First-Ever Federal-State Funding Partnership to Improve and Expand Intercity Passenger Rail Service

WASHINGTON — For the first time ever, states will be directly eligible for federal funding to support intercity passenger rail service under a new grant program, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said. “We want to encourage and support the kind of state investments that are making a difference for passenger rail services,” Peters said, noting that between 1996 and 2006, ridership on state-supported intercity routes grew by a robust 88 percent, vastly outpacing the 17 percent increase on all other routes combined. Peters explained that the $30 million capital grant program is designed to support state efforts to

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BNSF

New, Safer Brake Technology for Freight Trains Gains Traction as Second Railroad Launches ECP Train

WASHINGTON — Utilizing advanced brake technology advocated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the BNSF Railway has launched its first revenue service train fully equipped with state-of-the-art electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes. “We expect that these brakes can make rail operations safer and provide business benefits as well,” FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman said, noting that BNSF, along with the Norfolk Southern Railway, received FRA waiver approval last year to install and begin demonstrating ECP brake technology. In contrast to conventional air brake systems, which operate sequentially from one rail car to the next, ECP technology applies the brakes uniformly

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FRA

FRA: Passenger Train Safety to Be Improved with New Requirements for Emergency Communication, Evacuation, and Rescue Features

WASHINGTON — Commuter and intercity passenger rail equipment will be safer under a new federal rule that ensures improved emergency window exit availability, specifies additional emergency rescue features, and requires two-way communication systems, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman said. “These safety features will help rail passengers evacuate from a train more quickly and provide emergency responders additional ways to reach trapped or injured riders should the need arise,” Boardman said. The new regulations issued by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) mandate that passenger rail cars be equipped with two-way communication systems that better help train crews inform and instruct

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FRA

Federal Rail Safety Program Surpasses One Million Miles of Track Inspected

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Automated Track Inspection Program (ATIP) recently surpassed the milestone of inspecting its one millionth mile of track for compliance with federal standards, announced FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman. The custom-built inspection vehicles are equipped with state of the art technology to help identify track flaws that could lead to train derailments. The ATIP program uses a variety of technologies to measure track geometry flaws, such as whether the two rails are level, if the width between the rails is acceptable, and if the surface of each rail meets federal standards. Problem areas are

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FRA

FRA Announces $4.6 Million RRIF Loan to Nashville and Eastern Railroad

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced that the Nashville and Eastern Railroad Corporation (NERC) is receiving a $4.6 million loan under the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program. The NERC will use the loan to purchase fifty new triple hopper railcars and two rehabilitated locomotives. The locomotives and 25 of the 50 rail cars will be used primarily to serve a major new customer, Lojac Minerals. The NERC will be transporting sand from Lojac’s mine in Monterey, Tenn., to its manufacturing facilities in Lebanon and Hermitage, Tenn., where the sand will be used to produce concrete, concrete blocks,