U.S. Urges Railroads to Install Costly Crash-Warning Devices

Federal officials prodded the railroad industry Wednesday to install expensive crash-warning devices to avert potential collisions and hazardous waste spills, but rail operators said that costs of the changes might be prohibitive.

In a report to Congress, the Federal Railroad Administration said that private rail operators should devote more resources to “positive train control” technology aimed at slowing down speeding locomotives and reducing human error, which causes 80% of crashes.

But the agency shied away from endorsing universal application of crash-prevention technology, limiting its initial recommendations to the nation’s “high-risk” rail corridors, which it will identify within two years. Frequency of accidents, traffic density and types of material carried will determine which tracks are high-risk, officials said, suggesting that highly traveled freight lines in the West and passenger lines in the Northeast will be required to use the technology.

The agency can order the changes but has delayed action to allow industry researchers to develop the technology in conjunction with the government.

The sooner the new technology is put into use, the sooner “a new Golden Age of information-driven high-speed safe railroading” will begin, Railroad Administration chief Jolene Molitoris said.

In its report, the agency asked industry researchers to step up development of a computer system with the capability to slow or stop trains using automated brakes. The agency also said that it will consider revising rules to improve radio communication. Such technology could have averted 116 train-to-train accidents and 30 deaths between 1988 and 1993, an agency study found. The report recommends using both existing and developing technology.

The study envisions that industry would bear the brunt of the costs. However, industry leaders said that universal use of the new equipment would cost nearly $1 billion and would save railroad operators only about $30 million a year.