Department of Transportation Calls for Improved Safety in Freight Rail Industry

In the wake of recent rail accidents, the Department of Transportation released an announcement on February 21^st called U.S. Department of Transportation Fact Sheet: Steps Forward on Freight Rail Industry Safety & Accountability.  DOT is calling upon the rail industry to implement the following safety practices:

1. Protect workers who spot safety issues from reprisal, by joining FRA’s Confidential Close Call Reporting Program.
2. Deploy new inspection technologies without seeking permission to abandon human inspections.
3. Expedite the phase-in of safer (DOT 117) tank cars in advance of the Congressionally mandated 2029 deadline.
4. Provide proactive advance notification to state emergency response teams when they are transporting hazardous gas tank cars through their states.
5. Provide paid sick leave. A healthy and well-supported workforce is a safer workforce.

USDOT has also indicated that it will continue its work on freight rail safety by taking the following actions:

1. Advancing the Train Crew Staffing Rule, which DOT states will require a minimum of two crewmembers for most railroad operations.
2. Initiating a focused safety inspection program on routes over which high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) and other trains carrying large volumes of hazardous material travel.
3. Initiating a focused inspection program of legacy tank cars and the shippers and railroads who have chosen not to upgrade to the safer tank cars (DOT 117).
4. Deploying the resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under programs including the the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI), the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program and the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) program among others to fund projects that modernize and improve rail tracks, eliminate at-grade rail crossings and improve rail safety.
5. Pursuing further rulemaking, to the extent possible under current statute, on high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT) and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP).