(The following story by Cathy Woodruff appeared on the Albany Times-Union website on April 19.)
ALBANY, N.Y. — Ongoing inspections of CSX railroad tracks in upstate New York have uncovered more evidence of defects — including one serious violation of safety standards on track in the Hudson Valley — according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
During a visit Wednesday to Rochester, where he announced that a third round of inspections is beginning, FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman said evaluations between March 19 and 28 using a specialized track-inspection vehicle found 78 defects and one violation.
Boardman said his agency is recommending a civil penalty for the violation, an unspecified failure to comply with a safety regulation. In a news release, the FRA said “most of the defects did not pose an imminent safety hazard to the public,” but the actual report on the inspections was not released.
The announcement of the CSX track defects comes less than a month after the FRA said inspectors found 376 defects and 13 possible violations of federal safety regulations related to the freight railroad’s tracks, operations and equipment in New York during inspections conducted in January.
Upstate New York has had a spate of derailments on CSX tracks.
Also on Wednesday, the FRA launched the new round of track inspections using a so-called T-18 gauge restraint measurement vehicle, which is designed to identify weaknesses in track structure, such as connections between the rail and crossties.
The problems disclosed Wednesday were found using a T-16 vehicle, which is designed to determine whether the rails are level and if the width between them is sufficient.
The FRA’s news release said CSX has promised to strengthen its track standards, use additional safety technology and “develop a stronger safety culture.”
Boardman said the FRA will monitor CSX’s efforts, adding: “CSX can’t talk its way into a safer railroad. This company has to be ready to take the steps needed to improve operations and better protect nearby communities.”
CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said the company would “work aggressively to make a safe railroad safer.”
Neither the FRA nor CSX was able to provide specifics about the violation, which was found between Selkirk and New Jersey, but Sullivan said it was not on tracks used by Amtrak passenger trains.
“We continue to cooperate fully with the FRA as it inspects the railroad in New York,” Sullivan said. “All the findings announced today are being addressed.”
Boardman also confirmed Wednesday that the FRA will inspect other rail lines in New York, including those owned by Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific and the New York Susquehanna & Western railroads.
New York’s two senators again called on CSX to intensify its safety practices as a result of the findings.
“This report shows that CSX has left upstate New York’s freight rails in a state of neglect — a situation that directly abetted the plague of accidents in upstate New York,” said Sen. Charles Schumer. “This is intolerable and CSX must clean up its act and protect our communities from dangerous derailments.”
Schumer and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton both applauded Boardman for undertaking the investigation, but Clinton said the report “only underscores the urgent need for the Federal Railroad Administration to undertake a comprehensive investigation of all of New York’s rail tracks.”
She said derailments and findings of defects and violations “only deepen my concern that the Federal Railroad Administration has the resources it needs to ensure rail safety and the authority needed to hold railroads accountable.”