The recent article, “Railroads Beat Back New Safety Rules After Derailments,” lacks a complete picture of the freight rail industry’s commitment to track safety and the comprehensive regulatory environment that each railroad must follow.
The freight rail industry fully supports a comprehensive approach to track safety and has demonstrated their full support, in research and in money, to drive down rail defect-related occurrences. But regulations must be based on the best available data and science, not on the notion merely adding a new regulation will enhance safety.
Under strict federal regulations, freight railroads have taken an aggressive approach to identifying and removing defective rail as part of an extensive monitoring and replacement process. They are steadfast compliant, going beyond what is required by often performing more track inspections than required by regulators.
Federal statistics show rail safety has been dramatically improving over the last several decades, by more than 40 percent since 2000. It is the commitment of America’s freight railroads to continue to take aggressive actions to advance the safety of the nation’s 140,000-mile rail network, even further.
Patricia Reilly, senior vice president
Association of American Railroads