(The Associated Press circulated the following article on March 30.)
WASHINGTON — Federal officials have agreed to expand their inspections of railroad tracks across New York state.
The move comes after U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) met with Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman Thursday to discuss the agency’s reporting of problems along CSX-owned tracks in New York and 22 other states.
Clinton says the FRA will now expand its inspections beyond just those tracks owned by CSX. The inspections will include all passenger and freight railroad tracks in the state, including those in New York City and Long Island.
Clinton’s office says new inspections will be conducted of Canadian Pacific, Norfolk Southern, New York Susquehanna and Western Railway, and Pan Am track.
Transportation officials began taking a hard look at CSX track after a number of accidents in upstate New York, including the derailment and fire earlier this month in Oneida that forced several thousand people to evacuate their neighborhoods.