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Summary:
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is the federal agency primarily responsible for safety in the rail industry. FRA's safety programs were last authorized in 1994; their authorization expired in 1998. Most measures of rail safety have improved significantly since FRA's last authorization, including the number of grade crossing collisions and fatalities and the number of employee injuries and deaths. These improvements came while the amount of both freight and passenger rail activity on the nation's rail infrastructure was increasing. However, the improvements in safety measures have leveled off in recent years. Given significant projected continued increases in freight and passenger rail activity in the coming decade, there is concern that without additional efforts, some of the gains of the past decade may be lost. Among the issues that have dominated debate thus far are alleged shortcomings in the rail hours of service statute (49 U.S.C. 21101 et seq) that limit the act's effectiveness in preventing fatigue among train operating crews, which may be a contributing factor in a significant number of train accidents. A related issue is limbo time, time that train operating crews spend on shift, but not engaged in safety-related duties, after they have reached the limit of their shift under the rail hours of service act, which also contributes to fatigue. Unlike the hours of service rules for other transportation modes, the rail hours of service rules are set in law and cannot be altered through the regulatory process. Other prominent issues have included implementation by railroads of automated collision-prevention technology in trains, the adequacy of FRA track inspections, and safety at highway-rail grade crossings. The House (on October 17, 2007) and Senate (on August 1, 2008) passed differing versions of H.R. 2095
