The Transportation Department is going to train 163 track inspectors to dramatically increase the number of people who know how to spot critical problems with railroad bridges, but the railroads themselves will still be responsible for inspecting their own bridges and the results will still be kept confidential.
Currently, there are only seven Federal Railroad Administration employees trained to assess bridges, although their primary responsibility is to review each railroad’s inspection plan to make sure they have a good plan in place and that won’t change. But this move will train significantly more people to spot structural problems on railroad bridges while they are out inspecting the tracks. Both federal and state track inspectors will be trained.
“The Trump Administration is delivering on its promises to make government more efficient and keep travelers safe,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “Leveraging our existing, dedicated workforce to improve oversight of railroad bridge safety is another common-sense win for Americans.”
Jared Cassity, who is the National Safety Director for the nation’s largest rail union, SMART-TD, agreed that having more people trained to spot bridge problems is a good thing, but these inspectors still have more than 70,000 railroad bridges out there across the country to assess.
“The safety of the railroad system relies upon a multitude of components, but few are as critical to the public and the men and women we represent as the integrity of the bridges America’s trains traverse,” said Cassity, whose union represents conductors.
Because there are so few bridge inspectors at the Federal Railroad Administration, roughly 10% of U.S. Railroads have not had their bridge management programs audited even 15 years after the rule on Bridge Safety Standards went into effect. But that issue is primarily at smaller short-line railroads. The Federal Railroad Administration said that the biggest railroads that deliver more than 90% of the nation’s freight have all been audited on a regular basis.
But there have still been high-profile rail bridge collapses like the one in Montana two years ago that sent a train hauling petroleum products into the Yellowstone River, sending tar balls downstream that had to be cleaned up. An Oregon railroad bridge maintained by a short-line railroad also collapsed earlier this year underneath a train — three years after it caught fire.
Congress required the railroads to keep bridge inspection reports confidential because of concerns that a terrorist could use them to pinpoint vulnerable bridges. There are provisions of the law that allow state and local officials to request the reports, but those officials have often complained that it is still hard to get that information.
The Association of American Railroads trade group said this move to get more inspectors trained will help ensure rail bridges are safe.
“This important step complements the industry’s own comprehensive bridge management safety programs and rigorous inspections, which will further validate the thousands of rail bridges that keep our economy moving remain structurally sound and properly maintained,” association spokeswoman Jessica Kahanek said.