Railroads and their regulators thwart safety fixes, costing lives
ABC News••nation
Key Points:
- Over the past decade, more than 3,000 rail accidents caused by human error and track defects resulted in 23 deaths and nearly 1,200 injuries, yet the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has only fully implemented 5 of 81 safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
- The rail industry, represented by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), has actively lobbied to reduce track inspection and repair requirements and loosen crew fatigue rules, leading to regulatory rollbacks such as halving weekly visual track inspections in favor of automated methods.
- Investigations reveal that inadequate track inspections, excessive workloads on inspectors, and failure to regulate rail wear and crew fatigue have contributed to fatal accidents, including a
