Thursday, April 20, 2000 (Washington, DC)

Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene M. Molitoris and John W. Snow, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CSX Corporation, today announced the signing and execution of a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and CSX Safety Compliance Agreement concerning CSX track conditions around the country.

FRA undertook an intensive two week system-wide safety audit of CSX trackage in February with 44 federal and state inspectors conducting the audit. The track audit found that CSX track inspectors were not identifying and recording track defects in some cases, and when inspections did uncover defects, ensuing track repairs were inadequate; that track inspectors were complaining of inadequate track time to perform quality inspections; and that production gangs’ work exhibited quality control problems.

The most serious safety problems, such as wide gauge (tracks spread too far apart), were immediately fixed by CSX. Other less serious safety issues identified in the audit report will be addressed in CSX’s long term maintenance programs. These programs are now a component of the compliance agreement and will be monitored by FRA.

Safety is President Clinton and Vice President Gore’s highest transportation priority and the North Star by which Secretary Slater and the U.S. Department of Transportation is guided.

"Our collective goal here is to make a safe CSX safer through preventive actions." said Administrator Molitoris. "I personally discussed FRA’s preliminary track audit findings and concerns with CSX Chairman John Snow in March and he responded immediately to the seriousness of those issues."

Molitoris noted that in 1999 CSX was the only major railroad that did not have a single employee fatality.

CSX today agreed to conduct more frequent automated track inspections; issue instructions for visual track inspections; submit performance standards for large scale track work; enhance management oversight; provide capital improvement and maintenance programs for track; provide the compliance agreement to affected employees; pay penalties for unacceptable conditions; accept emergency or compliance orders for violations of the agreement; and comply with the agreement until May 1, 2001. If CSX makes sufficient progress by Jan. 31, 2001, FRA has the option to terminate the agreement.

A compliance agreement is a legally binding document that commits the railroad to implement safety measures in addition to what is required by existing regulations in order to facilitate compliance with those rules.

The Safety Compliance Agreement Between CSX and the FRA Concerning Track Conditions and the CSX Track Audit Report 2000 are on the FRA website, www.fra.dot.gov, under "What’s New."