Tag: Federal Railroad Administration

Ohio Governor DeWine Signs $13.5 Billion Transportation Budget Including New Rail Safety Measures

Hannah Poling

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a nearly $13.5 billion state transportation budget on Friday, including rail safety measures that lawmakers added in reaction to the February 3rd train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine.

With oversight from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), among other provisions, the railway safety measures call for two-person crews for freight trains and requires the installation of wayside detectors at shorter distances, every 10 to 15 miles, to help identify issues. The Federal Railroad Administration currently permits the placement of some wayside devices up to 25 miles apart from one another.

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‘Don’t Want to Get in the Way’: Pete Buttigieg Declines to Visit Site of Minnesota Fiery Train Derailment

Ohio Star Staff

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Thursday that he will not visit a small Minnesota town that was evacuated after a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train derailed and caught fire earlier that morning.

Raymond, Minnesota, residents who live within a half mile from the derailment site were evacuated after approximately 22 cars derailed and four caught on fire around 1:00 a.m. CST. The train was carrying mixed freight including ethanol and corn syrup.

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Norfolk Southern CEO Evades Questions About Support for Rail Safety Act of 2023

Hannah Poling

At a Wednesday hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Norfolk Southern’s CEO Alan Shaw evaded questions about the company’s support for safety requirements included in the bipartisan Rail Safety Act of 2023.

The Rail Safety Act sponsored by U.S. Senators JD Vance (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) would require that trains carrying hazardous materials be scanned by wayside defect detectors, or “hotbox detectors,” every 10 miles to prevent future derailments caused by faulty wheel bearings. It stipulates that railroad companies must provide advance notification to state emergency response commissions when transporting hazardous materials. It requires railroads to operate with at least two-person crews. It also, increases the maximum fine for rail safety violations.

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Norfolk Southern Unveils New Safety Plan Following Second Ohio Train Derailment

Hannah Poling

After its second train derailment in Ohio within a matter of weeks, Norfolk Southern on Monday unveiled a “six-point strategy” to increase safety.

Although Norfolk Southern claimed there were no dangerous commodities on the train, around 20 of a 212-car train derailed on Saturday in Springfield, Ohio. The incident happened about a month after a derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which contained hazardous materials and required hundreds of nearby residents to evacuate for several days.

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Changes to Proposed Ohio Transportation Budget Calls for Increasing Train Regulations

Hannah Poling

Billions of dollars are being allocated in Ohio’s transportation budget. As the train derailment in East Palestine is still fresh in people’s minds, lawmakers are considering a few amendments to try and prevent what happened there from happening again.

“We’ve got broad support across party lines to get this done,” state Representative Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) said.

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U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Visits East Palestine, Ohio

Hannah Poling

Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Thursday as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced the preliminary findings of its investigation into the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train transporting hazardous materials. The February 3rd derailment has caused significant health and environmental concerns for the locals, who have expressed dissatisfaction at how slowly the federal government has responded to the emergency.

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Feds Doling Out $2.3 Billion to ‘Expand and Modernize’ Intercity Passenger Rail

The Center Square

The federal government is looking to dole out nearly $2.3 billion to “expand and modernize” intercity passenger rail across the country.

But a leading transportation analyst says that Amtrak, the nation’s passenger railroad, doesn’t have any plans to break even.

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Ohio Mayors, Cities, and Planning Agencies Support Reconnecting the State Through Passenger Rail

Hannah Poling

In a display of support of passenger rail service in Ohio, a bi-partisan alliance of Ohio mayors in partnership with several of Ohio’s regional planning agencies, have formally requested the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to include a list of Ohio rail lines in its Corridor Identification Program (CAP).

According to FRA, the CAP, established earlier this year, institutes a pipeline of projects ready for funding, allowing them to be implemented faster and with greater coordination. The Corridor ID Program is anticipated to help expand intercity passenger rail service beyond the Northeast Corridor.

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New Rail Regulation Rule Proposal Has No ‘Plausible Safety Justification’

The Center Square

A new proposed rule change to expand railroad regulations without any safety justification “prioritizes politics over sound, data-driven safety policy,” industry experts argue. If implemented, they warn, increased regulatory burdens could drive up shipping costs when consumers already are grappling with 40-year-high inflationary price increases.

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Trump Strips California of $930 Million in High-Speed Rail Funding

Ohio Star Staff

by Michael Bastasch   The Trump administration will terminate its agreement with California to fund the state’s struggling high-speed rail project, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) said Thursday. In a letter to state officials, Administrator Ronald Batory said FRA would deobligate the $928.6 million set aside for the California High-Speed…

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