(The following story by Meaghan M. McDermott appeared on the Democrat and Chronicle website on April 15.)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The state Attorney General’s Office has launched a fact-finding inquiry into CSX maintenance practices at all of the railroad’s grade-level crossings within the state.
Marc Violette, spokesman for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, confirmed Wednesday that the agency asked CSX in early March to provide the office with a record of the company’s maintenance programs, schedules and procedures related to its at-grade, or road-level, railroad crossings.
It is the fourth government agency looking into CSX practices, following a car-train accident in which a Henrietta couple was killed in February.
”This is a fact-finding inquiry on the part of the Attorney General’s Office in the interest of public safety,” he said, adding that state law requires railroad companies to ensure that their grade crossings are properly maintained. Violette also said the request was not limited to information about crossings in the Rochester area.
The Democrat and Chronicle reported earlier this week that CSX has experienced chronic malfunctions at some local crossings, including the South Winton Road crossing where the couple was killed. Critics attribute the problems in part to lack of preventative maintenance and a shortage of maintenance employees.
CSX spokesman John Casellini did not immediately return two calls Wednesday seeking comment. In the past, however, the company has denied that crossing maintenance problems exist locally.
The company did announce Monday that in response to public concern about crossing safety, it was beginning what it called an “aggressive” plan to reconstruct or improve 17 local crossings this year.
Violette said CSX has been “open and cooperative” with the request for information and that the documents should be received by the Attorney General’s Office by mid- to late June.
CSX has been under fire locally since the Feb. 3 train-car accident that killed John O’Connor, 78, and his wife, Jean, 75.
On that day, circuits that control the gates and warning lights at several local crossings had been deactivated because of repeated malfunctions, and crews had been ordered to stop their trains before proceeding through the crossings.
The crew of one freight train failed to heed that directive, railroad officials have said, and struck a car passing over the unguarded crossing, killing the couple.
Three other government agencies are looking into the crash. The Federal Railroad Administration is expected to release the result of its investigation into the accident and its causes relatively soon.
Once that occurs, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is to finish its accident report, and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office will determine whether criminal charges are warranted.