WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to improve protection for roadway workers from train or equipment movements on an adjacent track.
The proposal would require railroads, contractors to railroads, and roadway workers to adopt and comply with additional on-track safety procedures. It will cover work groups using certain maintenance […]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a Final Rule detailing the eligibility requirements and selection criteria for capital grants under the Rail Line Relocation and Improvement program created in the SAFETEA-LU legislation.
In order to be eligible for grant funding, a project must mitigate the adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor […]

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today a new rule that will make it more difficult for transportation workers to cheat on their required drug tests by requiring drug testing labs to analyze every test for tampering.
“We want to make sure there are no doubts about the ability of anyone working in transportation […]

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will hold a public hearing next month to discuss “issues related to the common carrier obligation of railroads—the duty of railroads to provide transportation or service on reasonable request—with respect to the transportation of hazardous materials.”
The hearing follows one held in April on the general topic of the common […]

WASHINGTON — Train crews involved in a locomotive collision will have a better chance of survival with reduced injuries as a result of the first-ever federal freight locomotive crash worthiness standards issued, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman said.
The regulation is intended to prevent the locomotive cab from being crushed during a head-on collision with […]

WASHINGTON — The number of train accidents has decreased by 23.3 percent in the past three years in part because the Department of Transportation has completed an ambitious plan designed to improve safety on the Nation’s railroads, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters says.
“We’ve seen how much can be done when you combine good […]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded two grants to the Washington State Department of Transportation to improve rail safety and upgrade infrastructure.
A $1.5 million grant for the Tacoma Rail Mountain Division will be used to upgrade four bridges and repair rail, crossties, and equipment on several highway/rail grade crossings between Tacoma and Morton. […]

WASHINGTON — Railroads will be required to route every train carrying the most toxic and dangerous hazardous materials on the safest and most secure route under a new federal rule announced by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters.
“This strong measure better ensures that rail shipments of hazardous materials will reach their final destinations safely […]

WASHINGTON — A second railroad is now participating in a major federal rail safety pilot program designed to allow employees the ability to voluntarily and anonymously report “close call” incidents that could have resulted in an accident but did not, announced Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman.
“This risk-reduction program provides an indispensable opportunity to analyze […]

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. […]