AAR: Record low for rail accidents in 2005

AAR: Record low for rail accidents in 2005    Last year was the safest year in history for U.S. railroad employees as measured both by employee injuries and employee injury rates, the Association of American Railroads said Tuesday.
   It was also the safest year on record for the highway grade crossing accident rate, according to data released by the Federal Railroad Administration. The employee injury rate fell by 12.7 percent, while the number of employee injuries declined by 9 percent, breaking records set in 2004. The grade crossing incident rate dropped 4.2 percent from 2004, when the previous record were set.
   The number of grade crossing accidents (down 1.9 percent) and the number of fatalities (down 3.5 percent) were both the second lowest on record. Progress was also made in reducing train accidents, with the total number down almost 8 percent from 2004, and the rate down more than 10 percent, AAR said.
   “Truly 2005 was a year of remarkable progress in rail safety,” AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger said in a statement. “Rail traffic was higher than ever before in history, and thousands of new employees were brought on board to help handle that record volume.'
   Hamberger credited employee training and the industry’s extensive maintenance and improvement program with bringing about the reductions in both the employee casualty and train accident rates.
   The industry spent more than $17 billion last year to maintain and improve track, equipment and communications and signaling systems, Hamberger said.
   “As a result, the industry today is probably in the best physical shape in its history,” he added.
   Improvements in the train accident rate included reductions in yard accidents, derailments, and accidents caused by either equipment failure or human error.