Railroad Safety: More FRA Oversight Needed to Ensure Rail Safety in Region 2
RCED-90-140
Published: Apr 27, 1990. Publicly Released: May 04, 1990.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the effectiveness of the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Region 2 hazardous materials inspection program.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FRA, to reemphasize in Region 2 that inspectors add newly identified inspection points to their inspection-point lists and keep those lists updated so that the inspection goals and priorities can be set to maximize the use of scarce inspector resources. |
Closed – Implemented
All eight FRA regions have updated their inspection-point lists. FRA has completed data collection regarding the inspection points for all disciplines. FRA will not use these data to correct deficiencies noted by GAO.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FRA, to establish a policy of enforcing train speed limits by citing railroads for exceeding speed limits permitted by the declared classification or track's curvature. |
Closed – Not Implemented
FRA does not plan to take action on this recommendation, stating that its involvement in the railroads' operating decisions would be an administrative nightmare with no provable safety benefits.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FRA, to increase oversight of railroad speed enforcement actions by: (1) requiring railroads to report information on the amount their speed limits are exceeded in failed tests and the number and types of disciplinary actions taken against employees who speed; and (2) establishing standards for acceptable failure rates in speed tests conducted by railroads, how speed tests should be conducted, and what types of disciplinary action should be taken when failures occur. |
Closed – Not Implemented
FRA does not plan to act on this recommendation, stating that it regularly examines records of railroad enforcement and resulting disciplinary actions.
|
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Topics
Hazardous substancesInspectionLaw enforcementRailroad accidentsRailroad regulationRailroad safetyRailroad transportation operationsSafety regulationSafety standardsTraffic violationsRailroad tracks