Thursday, February 12, 1998 (Washington, DC) FRA and Wisconsin Central
Extend Successful Compliance Agreement

Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene Molitoris today announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has renewed its partnership with the Wisconsin Central Railroad and signed a safety compliance agreement to improve railroad safety throughout the railroad’s four-state, 3,000-mile transportation network.

Under the new agreement, the Wisconsin Central Railroad will continue to take specific steps to improve track and equipment inspection, training measures, and operating practices.

"Safety is President Clinton’s and Secretary Slater’s highest transportation priority," said Molitoris. "This agreement builds on our first compliance agreement and goes beyond existing federal regulations to ensure the next level of rail safety throughout the Wisconsin Central Railroad network."

In 1996, FRA completed a review of Wisconsin Central Railroad's compliance with the safety laws. FRA carefully studied the railroad’s accident history and conducted a special safety inquiry concerning Wisconsin Central Railroad's current and planned operations involving one-person crews and remote control locomotives. On February 8, 1997, FRA and Wisconsin Central Railroad forged a partnership for improving safety by entering into a safety compliance agreement.

During the year-long partnership, Wisconsin Central demonstrated its deep commitment to implementing the agreement. As a result of the joint effort, significant improvements have been made in Wisconsin Central’s accident safety record. Building on these successes and with the goal of zero tolerance for train accidents and injuries, FRA and Wisconsin Central Railroad will renew their partnership and enter into a new agreement with the following requirements:


*Certified track and equipment inspections;
*Continued implementation of written operational testing and inspection program, focusing on human factors;
*Improved training programs for all track and equipment personnel;
*Submission of a track maintenance plan and program for 1998 and 1999;
*Acceleration of operational tests and inspections of operating rules and special instructions;
*Continued implementation of programs for testing rules compliance in its maintenance of way and maintenance of equipment activities;
*Suspension of one-person train crews, except for movements of light locomotives and operations confined to industrial plants; and
*Refraining from all remote control operations throughout the Wisconsin Central network, except when confined to industrial plants.

The Wisconsin Central Railroad has agreed to all the terms and conditions of the agreement and will continue to implement them. The railroad has also committed to continue its greatly enhanced capital spending on its physical plant. Noncompliance with the agreement would immediately result in the issuance of a compliance order by the FRA pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §20111.

The FRA-Wisconsin Central Railroad safety compliance agreement took effect at 12:01 a.m. on February 8, 1998. Copies of the FRA-WC safety agreement are available upon request.