Rail safety

Jill Medeiros is the new Chief Administrative Officer for the railroad industry’s Short Line Safety Institute.

The Federal Railroad Administration approved a waiver to allow for the expanded use of automatic track inspection technology.

New Federal Railroad Administration chief is a former Pan Am Railways president and fifth-generation railroader.

The Trump administration’s proposed new regulatory enforcement policy could make railroads less accountable, unions assert.

Legislators used a House subcommittee hearing on railroad safety Tuesday to highlight a new rail safety bill. But committee members and witnesses including regulators, union representatives, and the House member representing East Palestine questioned the rail industry’s own safety efforts.

As the release of the NTSB’s accident investigation report on the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment looms, policymakers can take several steps to focus on rail safety.

Recent incidents involving Norfolk Southern trains exposed the continued need for rail safety to the greater public. Here are some ways rail can drive safety.

Saturday will mark one year since a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. NS is joining the federal Confidential Close Call Reporting System, the only Class I railroad to do so.

What are stakeholders in the freight rail space keeping an eye on in 2024? Here’s a starter list.

Election-year politics and the NTSB report on the East Palestine derailment are key factors in whether Congress will pass rail safety legislation in 2024, industry observers say.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way – Employes Division is continuing to express its disappointment over planned furloughs at Union Pacific. But UP insists that it will call back furloughed employees as the railway pursues rail service and safety goals.

Will Congress pass any rail safety bills before 2023 ends? One consultant thinks the answer is probably no.

Using technology to assess adverse weather impacts in real time and working with other railroads to adopt best practices were two of the Federal Railroad Administration’s recommendations.

The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen and Norfolk Southern, with technical input from the Federal Railroad Administration, will conduct a one-year pilot program to identify best safety practices.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen wants the Federal Railroad Administration to issue an emergency order prohibiting freight train lengths greater than 7,500 feet.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said a new rule calling for passenger trains to have inward- and outward-facing image recording devices should also have applied to freight trains.

The National Transportation Safety Board will focus on CSX’s safety training of railway carmen as the agency continues investigating the death of a carman at a CSX yard in Ohio.

President Joe Biden wants Norfolk Southern and federal agencies to stay involved in recovery efforts in East Palestine, Ohio, where an NS train carrying hazardous materials derailed on Feb. 3.

Rail union leaders want the industry to examine safety practices involving remote-controlled locomotives following the Sunday death of a railway carman at a CSX rail yard in Ohio.

Atkins Nuclear Secured released its initial findings on how Norfolk Southern can bolster its safety culture.