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The recently-released report confirms what the BLET has been saying all along. Longer trains create a greater risk of overall safety. Photo courtesy of Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659
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A report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine examining excessive train length was released on September 17. BLET First Vice President Mark Wallace told the Associated Press that the report confirms what BLET members have long known: “Long trains have a greater risk of derailing, have communications issues, and pose a threat to the public due to blocked crossings, among other issues.”

The report’s authors indicated that proper train makeup becomes more and more important as trains get longer and longer. Their research concluded that the number of wrecks related to train makeup and handling issues has increased since U.S. railroads adopted Precision Scheduled Railroading, which emphasizes longer trains.

The report suggests that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) should revise the Risk Reduction Program (RRP) rule to require railroads to address all major operational changes in their RRPs in an explicit and comprehensive manner. To address that recommendation, Wallace said, “All major railroads should immediately adopt the C3RS confidential reporting system, similar to the system used by commercial airlines. This would enable the railroads, regulators, unions and Congress to collect more data on what is and what isn’t working; more accurately assess risks; and be better able to fix what’s broken. Although the railroad has promised to adopt the C3RS, except for a small pilot project, they broke their word, once again proving that safe rail service is often nothing more than lip service.”

Not only are long trains a danger to train crews and the general public, they are bad for business. In his testimony at a hearing of the Surface Transportation Board on September 16, First Vice President Wallace said increased train length has been a detriment to shippers and on-time delivery. “With fewer trains operating, shippers see less frequent service. They see less on-time service because the PSR business model relies on longer trains which break down more, cause congestion, and exceed the capacity of the existing network of sidings and yards.”

BLET Vice President & National Legislative Representative Vince Verna applauded a portion of the report that called for the FRA to establish a Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) that focuses on improving capabilities for safe operations of very long trains. Vice President Verna also said the report should have recommended that Congress ask for legacy data on long trains because the report criticized the Association of American Railroads (AAR) for being less than cooperative in providing full derailment data. And, although it is mentioned briefly in the report, Brother Verna said investigators should have gone into more detail about BLET’s concerns regarding the loss of communication on trains longer than 10,000 feet.

The full report can be viewed here.