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Examining the State of Rail Safety in the Aftermath of the Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

Written Statement of Amit Bose, Administrator Federal Railroad Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation

Before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

U.S. House of Representatives

Examining the State of Rail Safety in the Aftermath of the Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

July 23, 2024

Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Larsen, Chairman Nehls, Ranking Member Wilson, and members of the subcommittee – thank you for the opportunity to testify today on improving railroad safety.

At the outset, I want to take a moment to remember Representative Donald M. Payne, Jr. He was an avid champion for making our freight and passenger rail systems safe, reliable, and accessible to everyone. I join his family, friends, colleagues, and staff in remembering him fondly.

Today, I am pleased to join you to discuss rail safety. At the Federal Railroad Administration, we work every day to advance safety - the agency’s core mission - through the work of FRA’s safety professionals, partnerships with stakeholders, and investments in rail projects around the country.

Last week, FRA published findings following our investigation of the Norfolk Southern (NS) derailment in East Palestine. U.S. DOT safety personnel were on the ground within hours of the derailment, and have been investigating the incident and compliance with rail safety regulations. As indicated in our publicly available report, consistent with the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board, FRA found that a roller bearing overheated and failed, causing the derailment. FRA also determined that NS’s procedures and inadequate staffing for communicating information from the hot bearing detectors to the train crew may have contributed to the accident. And FRA, in consultation with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, concluded that the use of a general-purpose DOT 111 specification tank car to transport butyl acrylate contributed to the severity of the accident.

In response to the derailment, Secretary Buttigieg laid out a three-part push, pressing the major railroads and inviting Congress to join us in efforts to increase freight rail safety and hold railroads accountable. For over a year, DOT has continued those calls and urged Congress to pass comprehensive railroad safety legislation, while concurrently taking important and urgent actions within our authorities to make freight rail safer and protect the American public.

For instance, earlier this year FRA issued final rules to require emergency escape breathing apparatuses for trains carrying hazardous materials, and to establish minimum safety requirements for train crew size. FRA also conducted 7,500 focused inspections along high- hazard flammable train routes, and began collecting train length data from Class I freight railroads to better understand the complexities associated with railroads operating increasingly longer trains. FRA has deployed billions in federal grants for rail improvement and safety projects around the country, including funding 63 projects addressing more than 400 grade crossings nationwide through BIL’s new Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program, and began collecting information from rail employees about close calls they experience on the job through pilots of the confidential close call reporting system (C3RS) at two Class I freight railroads. And work remains underway with FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee’s Work Group focused on wayside detector policies, procedures, and practices.

It is therefore encouraging to see renewed, bipartisan interest in this chamber for legislation that would add to the safety actions FRA has already undertaken. I am pleased to see elected leaders on both sides of the aisle pushing the railroads to improve rail safety. While FRA will continue using its existing authorities, we need Congress to do its part.

Because the truth is that the Class I freight railroads’ safety performance has stagnated over the last decade – and by some measures, deteriorated. Despite assertions to the contrary, derailment rates for our nation’s largest rail companies have not significantly improved. In fact, in the case of yard derailments, data show that the rate in 2023 was 51 percent higher compared to ten years ago. While the deterioration in derailment rates has not been uniform – recent data shows one Class I freight railroad experienced a 34 percent reduction in the rate of derailments during 2023 – the overall rate of accidents not at grade crossings has been rising slowly throughout the decade, peaking in 2022.

I want to unequivocally cut through two of industry’s consistent claims. First, while the industry often notes that derailments are less common than they were a quarter of a century ago, when we consider the significant changes in rail technology and operations, it is the last decade that provides the more meaningful and timely measure. It is also appropriate to use rates per million miles versus total incidents, as it normalizes for changes in the volume of traffic on the Nation’s railways. And over the last decade, we have not seen any meaningful improvement in derailment rates.

Secondly, while not all derailments are equal in seriousness – and certainly few rise to the level of the East Palestine, Ohio derailment in terms of severity and impact – yard derailments should not be taken lightly or likened to “fender benders.” In 2023, three Class I freight employees on duty lost their lives in rail yard accidents, while a separate incident resulted in an explosion at Bailey Yard in North Platte that forced local residents to evacuate their homes. And, earlier this month, on July 6, a conductor lost his life in a rail yard accident. Since July of last year, FRA has issued four Safety Bulletins, each describing circumstances resulting in railroad worker fatalities in rail yards.

FRA believes this is neither acceptable nor inevitable. The public and communities across the country do not think so. That is why FRA has been using our available tools to push the rail industry to do better.

As I noted earlier, this Administration has finalized several rules to improve freight and passenger rail safety, including final rules to require emergency escape breathing apparatuses for trains carrying hazardous materials, and to establish minimum safety requirements for train crew size. FRA also issued two final rules ensuring that dispatchers and signal employees receive the preparation and training they need to meet the demands of their safety-sensitive jobs; FRA now requires railroads to implement FRA-approved certification programs so that these workers are trained for success. We also finalized a rule requiring railroads to develop Fatigue Risk Management Programs in consultation with their workforce, as fatigue remains a problem in this 24/7 industry.

Those are five rules this Administration has delivered to improve safety. And yet in every instance except one, the railroad industry has either sued to block them or filed petitions for reconsideration. Those lawsuits and petitions not only inject uncertainty into enacting these commonsense safety measures that help safeguard your constituents; they also force us to redirect federal resources that could be working to advance new safety measures – including those that this Subcommittee and Congress have directed FRA to issue.

FRA also acts on emergent issues by issuing Safety Advisories and Bulletins to raise awareness to accidents, conditions, or other events that FRA safety professionals believe require prompt attention of the industry. Since the East Palestine derailment, FRA has issued 9 advisories and 10 bulletins to urge industry action on hot bearing wayside detectors; highlighting the complexities of operating long trains and the need to properly sequence a train’s cars and locomotives to help train crews safely operate trains that can be miles-long; addressing the dangers of shove movements, switching cars, close clearances, and roadway maintenance machines; and recommending railroads properly prepare for severe weather, among others.

FRA is also conducting comprehensive safety assessments of all Class I freight railroads, using interviews, observations, and focused inspections to measure their safety cultures. FRA issued its assessment of NS’s safety culture last year, and will soon issue an assessment on our review of BNSF.

The railroad industry is not static, and neither is safety. A continued reassessment of practices new safety proposals, and other actions are necessary to improve safety. While FRA has made progress improving rail safety, all too often it has been despite an industry seeking to preserve the status quo and record profits. History has shown us that, unfortunately, major freight railroads, and many in Congress, are not just willing but eager to settle for the current state of railroad safety in this country. Like the American public, FRA and the Department of Transportation think that is unacceptable.

In this safety journey, industry behavior is as important as government action. I urge you and your colleagues in both chambers to act quickly on commonsense measures to enhance rail safety across the board. I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to testify before the subcommittee today, and I am prepared to answer any questions you may have.

Long-Term Economic Benefits and Impacts from Federal Infrastructure and Public Transportation Investment

Long-Term Economic Benefits and Impacts from Federal Infrastructure and Public Transportation Investment

Testimony of Acting Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy Christopher A. Coes
before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

July 31, 2024

Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Scott, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for your leadership and partnership as we work to deliver projects to build a stronger, safer transportation system that connects the American people to jobs, to housing, to educational opportunities, and to one another.

DOT has been working tirelessly executing the vision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Because of this generational investment, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced $461 billion of awards, funding over 60,000 specific projects in all 50 states, D.C., the territories, and for Tribes. As I travel across the country, these headlines don’t come close to telling the full story about IIJA’s significance.

Nationally, 47% of the US population spend more than 15% of their annual income on transportation. IIJA isn’t just an investment in infrastructure, it’s an investment in our economy and workforce, in housing, and in our Nation’s families. IIJA has allowed us to invest over $91 billion into restoring and upgrading our Nation’s transit service, creating thousands of jobs, and expanding access to even more. Bringing transportation, jobs, and housing together improves access to transportation while supporting local and regional economic development. In April, FTA announced the award of nearly $18 million to 20 projects in 16 states in Transit Oriented Development discretionary funds to support community efforts to improve access and increase affordable housing near transit.

It’s also critical that transit is available to everyone, regardless of ability. That’s why the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) is so important, allowing us to upgrade and modernize legacy transit stations built before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 so they are accessible to people with disabilities. Last month, we saw the groundbreaking for the first project to reach construction under this program – an upgrade to six transit stations in Philadelphia to make them fully accessible and provide access to everyday destinations.

We’re also investing in projects to reconnect communities, including through the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Program. For example, in Columbus, Ohio, we’re funding the development of a bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor along West Broad Street, which currently divides disadvantaged communities and is one of the most dangerous roadways in Ohio. Once completed, we expect that the availability of a reliable BRT system will result in more affordable mobility options, fewer pedestrian deaths, and greater private investment along the corridor. This project is just one example of how the transit investments are helping transform disadvantaged communities into thriving ones.

More broadly, we’re exceeding our Justice40-covered programs goal, with 55% of the benefits from awards going to disadvantaged communities, particularly rural and Tribal. For example, at the border of Montana and Idaho, we’re funding the rehabilitation of a critical segment of Interstate 90 to enable it to better withstand increased harsh weather events and make it safer and more reliable for travelers and vulnerable populations nearby. We're also replacing rural bridges in South Carolina that are disrupting vital farm-to-market and commercial freight routes with existing load restrictions due to their age and condition.

In March, we experienced a painful reminder of the criticality of our Nation’s bridges to our daily lives and to our economy when the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after being struck by a container ship. We worked rapidly with multiple partners to reopen the Federal channel and Port of Baltimore in less than 100 days and continue to work with them on rebuilding the Key Bridge. Even before that incident, we have been working with communities across the country to rehabilitate and replace aging critical bridges. Earlier this month, DOT awarded more than $5 billion to support 13 large bridge construction projects, including $251 million for the I-95 Bridge over Lake Marion in South Carolina, $550 million for the I-10 Mobile River Bridge in Alabama, and $251 million to repair a cluster of bridges on I-95 in Rhode Island, to name a few. These will join significant projects that are already underway. For instance, we expect construction to begin soon on upgrades to the Brent Spence Bridge at the border between Ohio and Kentucky, which carries $400 billion in freight across the Ohio River each year.

I’m excited to see some of the earliest IIJA investments break ground, begin construction, and start to deliver benefits for the communities that they serve. We are doing our part to accelerate projects, including establishing a new Project Delivery Center of Excellence, streamlining processes by simplifying and combining complementary notices of funding opportunity (NOFOs), and providing extensive technical assistance, especially for rural and Tribal communities. On behalf of Secretary Buttigieg and the entire Department, we appreciate your ongoing partnership and shared commitment to delivering a world-class transportation system for the American people.

Thank you and I look forward to your questions.

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