Tag Archives: Rail crossings

Senators Call for More Funding to Improve Safety at Rail Crossings

Repost from The Albany Times Union

Senators push for safety: Schumer, Blumenthal unveil their plans to improve rail crossings

By David McCumber, Hearst News Service, February 15, 2015
This February 4, 2015 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) board member Robert Sumwalt(L) and other members of the investigation team, view a damaged rail car involved in Metro North train accident in Valhalla, New York. Safety on one of America's busiest commuter rail services was under the spotlight Wednesday after a packed passenger train slammed into a jeep, killing six people north of Manhattan. It was the worst of three deadly crashes in less than two years on the Metro North line that carries around 280,000 passengers a day. The woman driver of a jeep, which became stranded on the tracks, and five rail passengers were killed in the February 3 rush-hour accident, which ripped up tracks and ignited a major explosion. Fifteen other people were injured, seven of them seriously, in what should have been a monotonous but totally safe journey home to the suburbs after a busy working day in America's largest city.  AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / NTSB    == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / NTSB "/ NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / NO A LA CARTE SALES / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==--/AFP/Getty Images ORG XMIT: New York Photo: -- / AFP
This February 4, 2015 members of the NTSB investigation team view a damaged rail car involved in Metro North train accident in Valhalla, New York. Safety on one of America’s busiest commuter rail services was under the spotlight Wednesday after a packed passenger train slammed into a jeep, killing six people north of Manhattan. It was the worst of three deadly crashes in less than two years on the Metro North line that carries around 280,000 passengers a day. The driver of a jeep, which became stranded on the tracks, and five rail passengers were killed in the February 3 rush-hour accident, which ripped up tracks and ignited a major explosion. Fifteen other people were injured, seven of them seriously, in what should have been a monotonous but totally safe journey home to the suburbs after a busy working day in America’s largest city. AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / NTSB

Washington – Reacting to a safety threat both regional and national, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal announced new federal legislation Sunday to improve safety at rail crossings like the one at which six people died in an accident on Metro-North’s Harlem line in Valhalla, Westchester County, earlier this month.

“The pain is still fresh … and Sen. Blumenthal and I feel compelled to act,” Schumer said as the two Democratic senators announced the bill at a Grand Central Station news conference. “We must improve safety at rail crossings for the sake of our drivers and our rail passengers.”

In 2013, more than 200 people died nationwide in 2,096 rail-crossing accidents, and the rate has held steady at about 2,000 accidents a year for several years. Over the decade from 2005 to 2014, there were 341 accidents in New York state, causing 59 deaths and 96 injuries, according to Federal Department of Transportation records.

The legislation would provide about $800 million over four years to local governments, states and the federal railroad and highway administrations to improve crossing safety, by focusing on engineering fixes, public education and safety enforcement.

Among the bill’s provisions is $100 million a year for four years to revive a tool provided to the Federal Railroad Administration by Congress in 2008 — but never implemented. It is a grant program designed to provide funding to states for specific engineering and technological fixes, public education and targeted law enforcement.

“It’s very unfortunate that Congress has neglected these programs,” Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said in an interview later Sunday. “Programs that the federal government had instituted to remedy these gaps … have gone unfunded and ignored.”

Blumenthal said that of the 212,000 rail crossings nationwide, nearly half have no active warnings — no lights, sounds or barricades, just a stop sign. “What you have are death traps for the unwary and unwarned,” he said. “We’re using 19th-century technology in the 21st century.”

He said the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway Administration have failed to focus on the problem. “They have not sounded the alarm,” he said. “They have been as silent about this danger as the unprotected crossings themselves.”

The bill would also:

  • Reauthorize yet another defunct FRA program to help states and communities relocate rail lines to fix glaring safety problems, providing $25 million per year for four years;
  • Increase funding for the Federal Highway Administration’s Railway-Highway Crossing Program, which provides for “separation or protection of grades at crossings, the reconstruction of existing railroad grade crossing structures, and the relocation of highways to eliminate grade crossings.” The $50 million per year for four years provided by the bill is in addition to the fund’s current budget of $220 million per year.
  • Increase FRA’s manpower to focus on grade-crossing issues;
  • Require the FRA to analyze new technology the public can use to report grade-crossing dangers;
  • Strengthen the federal government’s collaboration with Operation Lifesaver, a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to rail-safety education.

Blumenthal has been one of the Senate’s most strident advocates of increased rail safety, particularly since a spate of injuries and fatalities in accidents on Metro-North in 2013. He has been sharply critical of enforcement lapses at FRA, which regulates passenger and freight rail safety.

Schumer and Blumenthal are optimistic that the bill will find bipartisan support. “Many of these crossings are in states with Republican senators,” Blumenthal said. “And this bill can more than pay for itself if it reduces accidents. The 2,000 accidents each year — nearly one every three hours — cost $2.2 billion in property damage alone.”

“Too many innocent victims, drivers, train passengers and railroad employees have died,” Blumenthal said Sunday. He said these tragedies “are preventable … but without the decisive steps we urge, rail grade crossings will continue to be accidents waiting to happen.”

Minnesota towns talking about dangerous rail crossings

Repost from DL-Online, Detroit Lakes, MN
[Editor:  The Minnesota Dept. of Transportation’s study of rail crossings and bridges identified and prioritized safety upgrades all over the state, and now has towns large and small reflecting on the bomb train threats in their midst.  This is the story from one such town, Detroit Lakes, population around 8500.  A similar study here in California would go far to wake up communities all along the rails.  – RS]

 Detroit Lakes in the Bakken oil danger zone

By DL News Staff, Jan 17, 2015

Forty to 44 trainloads a week of highly volatile Bakken crude oil come through Detroit Lakes via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail corridor, each one a potential inferno if it derails and explodes.

Train collisions with trucks and cars often cause derailments, so making crossings safer is key to preventing a disaster such as the one that killed 47 people when a parked train rolled downhill and derailed in Lac Megantic, Quebec, in July 2013.

That’s why the Minnesota Department of Transportation assessed all rail crossings on routes that carry Bakken oil, and prioritized the potential danger and need for improvements at each one.

The bad news is that the Washington Avenue crossing is the third highest priority crossing in the state, based on population living within a half-mile of the crossing, the number and type of vehicles that use the crossing, the accident history there, and its proximity to emergency services such as the fire hall, police station and hospital, among other factors.

The good news is that the crossing has gates and medians and is already considered as safe as a crossing can be, so no additional improvements are recommended.

When the city implemented a “no-train-horn” policy on the BNSF corridor a few years ago, it was required to implement top-of-the-line safety improvements at the crossings.

Compare that to the Sixth Street N.W.  crossing in Perham, which is the second-highest priority crossing in the state. It has gates, but the state is recommending a grade separation (an underpass or an overpass) be built at that site in the long term.

Same goes for the No. 1 priority crossing in the state, the 14th Street S. crossing in Benson. It has gates and cants, but grade separation is recommended.

In Detroit Lakes, the crossings at County Road 54 (the Hidden Hills Road) and the Brandy Lake crossing near Walmart did not make the list of priority crossings.

Both were improved earlier as part of the “whistle-free zone” initiative.

The Canadian Pacific crossing on Legion Road near Snappy Park now has no gates at all, only crossbucks, but gates are set to be installed there in the next few years.

The Canadian Pacific route through Detroit Lakes (including WE Fest) Callaway, Ogema, and Waubun is not considered a Bakken crude route for the purposes of the state study, though trains do carry oil cars on those tracks.

The BNSF crossing on Lake Street N. in Frazee is No. 29 on the state’s list of dangerous crossings. It has gates, but the crossing is listed as “adequate, but improvable” in the state study.

The Fifth Street W. crossing in Frazee is No. 36 on the priority list and the state recommends medians be installed as part of a long-term solution.

The Fourth Street crossing in Audubon is ranked No. 57 on the priority list, but the crossing is considered adequate and no improvements are recommended.

No crossings in Lake Park made the list.

Other crossings on the priority list include several in Wadena, New York Mills, Perham, Glyndon and Dilworth.

Minnesota doesn’t have any control over the type of rail traffic that moves across state lines, but it’s encouraging that it has been as proactive as possible in identifying dangerous crossings and recommending solutions.

Study: rail crossings need safety upgrades

Repost from St. Cloud Times, St. Cloud MN
[Editor: Significant quote: “The MnDOT study recommends short-term upgrades at 10 grade crossings throughout the state. It also prioritizes more costly long-term upgrades, such as creating grade separations, at other crossings.”  IMPORTANT: The California Department of Transportation should take a few cues from Minnesota, commission a study and make similar recommendations.  See also Minnesota officials put price tag at $280M to upgrade oil train routes (MN Star-Tribune)  – RS]

Local rail crossings eyed for oil safety upgrades

Mark Sommerhauser, December 31, 2014
STC 0101 Train Crossings 1.jpg
A BNSF Railway freight train crosses East St. Germain Street as traffic waits Wednesday in St. Cloud. A study has recommended upgrading the crossing. (Photo: Kimm Anderson

Upgrades are on track for train crossings in St. Cloud and Clear Lake, part of a bid to improve safety on Minnesota’s main thoroughfares for shipping oil by rail.

The upgrades are recommended in a new Minnesota Department of Transportation study of rail lines that carry large volumes of oil freight.

As oil production in North Dakota has soared, state officials estimated eight to 13 oil trains go through Minnesota each day. State officials said Minnesota’s most heavily used rail artery for oil transport is the BNSF Railway line that goes through east St. Cloud and other area cities.

The MnDOT study recommends short-term upgrades at 10 grade crossings throughout the state. It also prioritizes more costly long-term upgrades, such as creating grade separations, at other crossings.

The study calls for medians to be installed at grade rail crossings at East St. Germain Street in St. Cloud and at Minnesota Highway 24 in Clear Lake.

The medians are meant to keep motorists from driving around lowered crossing arms. They would cost about $100,000 apiece, according to the study.

The study also calls for connecting and coordinating rail signals with traffic lights at the crossing on Sherburne County Road 11 near Big Lake. That would cost about $500,000, according to the study.

St. Cloud City Engineer Steve Foss said his office had preliminary talks with MnDOT about upgrading the East St. Germain Street crossing.

MnDOT will work with communities to finalize the study’s recommendations, according to a news release from the agency. MnDOT spokeswoman Sue Roe said the projects should move forward after that.

“They’re a ‘go,'” Roe said.

The MnDOT study stems from a 2014 state law directing the Minnesota Department of Transportation to study road crossings on rail lines carrying Bakken crude oil from North Dakota through Minnesota. The measure also appropriated $2 million to upgrade crossings.

About $244 million would be needed to implement the proposed grade separation projects. Those dollars aren’t currently available, Roe said.

The MnDOT news release said the study considers population, facilities and activity within a half-mile radius of each crossing. That distance represents the evacuation zone around an incident for a flammable material spill and fire.

The type of oil being transported from North Dakota, Bakken crude, has prompted particular safety concerns because of its volatility.

A string of rail disasters related to Bakken crude oil also has heightened awareness.

In July 2013, 47 people were killed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, when a train carrying Bakken crude derailed. Five months later, an oil train crashed and burned after colliding with a derailed freight train near Casselton, North Dakota.