FRA 09-07
Contact: Steve Kulm or Warren Flatau
Tel.: (202) 493-6024
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Train Accidents Decline for Second Year in a Row Preliminary 2006 Safety Data
Show
The number of train accidents declined for the second year in a row and there
were fewer highway-rail grade crossing collisions according to preliminary 2006
rail safety data announced today by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary
Mary E. Peters.
“The aggressive actions we are taking to improve rail safety are paying
dividends," Secretary Peters said. “As a result, many communities where trains
operate are safer,” she added, noting that 36 states experienced fewer train
accidents in 2006 as compared to 2005.
The preliminary statistics released today by the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) reveal that in 2006 railroads had 402 fewer train accidents nationwide, or
a 12.4 percent reduction from 2005, Peters said. Specifically, the number of
derailments declined 8.3 percent and collisions between trains decreased by 27.1
percent. Texas led the nation with 51 fewer train accidents last year followed
by Ohio (34), Nebraska (32), Indiana (29), New Jersey (24), and California (23).
The data for 2006 also reveal that train accidents caused by human error—the
leading cause of all train accidents--declined 20.2 percent, Peters said. Train
accidents caused by track issues decreased 5.8 percent, and those caused by
equipment failure and signal problems fell by 8.2 percent and 27.0 percent,
respectively, she added.
In addition, last year the number of highway-rail grade crossing collisions fell
by 5.0 percent. However, grade crossing fatalities increased by 1.4 percent to
362. And, trespass fatalities, the number one cause of all rail-related deaths,
increased by 14.5 percent to 530.
FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman emphasized that some of the safety gains
are attributable to aggressive implementation of the Department’s National Rail
Safety Action Plan which focuses on the most frequent, highest-risk causes of
train accidents; optimizes the use of data to target federal inspection and
enforcement resources; and accelerates research initiatives that hold promise to
mitigate the greatest potential safety risks.
Boardman said that during 2007, the FRA is planning additional action to further
improve rail safety, including: adding two new automated track inspection
vehicles to its fleet to triple the number of track-miles inspected each year;
issuing a final rule to address the most common human factor causes of train
accidents such as misaligned track switches; and completing several grade
crossing safety and trespass prevention initiatives. He noted that last month
the Department submitted a rail safety reauthorization bill to Congress seeking
authority to address key safety issues like regulating railroad employee hours
of service and establishing new risk reduction programs.
Click here for a state-by-state comparison of the data:
www.fra.dot.gov/us/press-releases/139.###
Briefing
Room
