OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad’s 2010 employee safety performance was the best in the company’s nearly 150-year history, the railroad said. Union Pacific’s full-year employee reportable injury rate was 1.37, a 6 percent improvement over the previous best of 1.45 established in 2009.
A company’s injury rate is calculated using the number of injuries per [...]

WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman said accident investigations highlight the need for a new perspective on safety culture, record-keeping and aging infrastructure.
In a speech to the audience at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) conference, Hersman discussed four investigations across all modes of transportation. She highlighted several accidents that claimed the lives of dozens and [...]

WASHINGTON –U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that seven projects will share $50 million to help make the nation’s rail system safer by facilitating deployment of Positive Train Control (PTC) collision avoidance systems and other advanced technologies.

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad’s safety processes meet the certification requirements under the Responsible Care Management System (RCMS) program of the American Chemistry Council, according to an independent audit.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced that Amtrak is joining the agency’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS), a safety pilot project that permits rail employees to voluntarily and anonymously report “close call” incidents that could have resulted in an accident or injury but did not.

WASHINGTON — Amtrak is joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a participant in National Preparedness Month. The Ready Campaign encourages Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and communities.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Officials from the city of Sioux Falls, the state of South Dakota and BNSF Railway celebrated the closure of the 5,000th grade crossing on BNSF’s rail network, setting a new national record for grade crossing closures and safety improvement, the railroad announced.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation (CSXT) announced it has entered into a rail security partnership with the State of Mississippi, which represents a model CSXT successfully uses with other states.
The partnership, called SecureNOW, formalizes and enhances CSXT’s ongoing commitment to share information, resources, and strategies to better protect communities in which the company operates. CSXT [...]

WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administrator (FRA) Joseph Szabo has announced a Final Rule requiring railroad track owners to adopt and follow specific procedures to protect the safety of their bridges, and to strengthen federal oversight of railroad bridge maintenance programs.
This rule is a requirement under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
“This Final Rule will [...]

WASHINGTON—Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano launched the first phase of DHS’ nationwide “See Something, Say Something” campaign and announced a new national information-sharing partnership with Amtrak as part of the Department’s nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) initiative during a whistlestop
train tour—highlighting the public’s role in keeping our country safe and the Obama [...]