Safety

WASHINGTON — In a move designed to aid in the development of new federal design standards for stronger and safer hazardous materials tank cars, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is joining forces with rail and chemical industry leaders to create the tank car of the future, FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced. “Our goal is to jump beyond incremental design changes,” Boardman said. “We and our partners are looking to apply the latest research and advanced technology to provide increased safety for rail shipments posing the greatest safety risk.” Boardman also said the FRA is considering issuing new, more robust

WASHINGTON – The first Positive Train Control (PTC) system capable of automatically controlling train speed and movements to prevent certain accidents, including train collisions has been approved. “This is a major achievement that marks the beginning of a new era of rail safety,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman. “The steps FRA and railroads are taking show that applying PTC technology can work and will provide important safety benefits.” In 2005, FRA revised federal signal and train control regulations to facilitate and enable development and deployment of PTC technology, Boardman said. Specifically, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approved the

WASHINGTON – Thirty-seven states experienced fewer train derailments and collisions during the first half of 2006 as compared to the same period last year Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced earlier this month. Boardman also said that railroads were doing a better job focusing on safety performance. A review of the preliminary statistics compiled by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for January through June 2006 reveals that railroads had 262 fewer train accidents, or a 16.1 percent reduction, when compared to the first half of 2005, Boardman said. Specifically, the number of derailments decreased by 13.6 percent and train-to-train