REMARKS FOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JOSEPH H. BOARDMAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATOR

 

NORTHEAST ASSOCIATION OF STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PITTSBURGH , PA

 

JUNE 9, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you.   It’s so good to see so many old friends and colleagues here today.   It’s as if I just arrived here from Albany instead of Washington because being here puts me back in a pleasant and familiar surrounding.

 

It was just seven years ago that I was the NASTO president and we’re still talking about some of the same transportation challenges. Congestion, capacity, and overall stress in the transportation system is still here.

 

The soaring cost of fuel has recently driven new converts to the rail bandwagon.  

 

I know the motivation for the rush to rail is because rail is far more efficient and economical than cars or trucks.   But this isn’t just a passing fad.   Looking at the long term, rail will, and must, play a major role in any comprehensive plan to relieve congestion and address the fuel problem.

 

As my boss, Secretary Peters stresses every day, the timely and efficient movement of goods and people across the country is critical to both our economic competitiveness as a nation, and to the quality of life for Americans in the Northeast and across the country.

 

So we are focused on improving the efficiency of our transportation network and taking full advantage of technology and other 21 ^st century tools to get top performance out of existing capacity.    And at the same time, ensuring safety remains everyone’s top priority.

 

At the FRA, we fund Amtrak and have a hand in the development of intercity rail.

 

But, we are primarily a safety agency.  

 

Sometimes the two issues of congestion and safety are discussed as unrelated subjects, but the truth is they are interdependent.   You can’t have a realistic plan for addressing congestion and expanding capacity in our transportation system without examining the safety issues that go with it.  

 

Likewise, by improving safety you reduce the potential for delays in transportation resulting from an accident.   In the case of the rail sector, a derailment can literally back up train traffic for hundreds of miles.

 

Over the past few years, all the major rail safety trends have moved in the right direction:   fewer train accidents, fewer highway-rail grade crossing collisions, and fewer rail-related fatalities and injuries.

 

I’m very proud to report that railroad accidents have declined for the three consecutive years.   From 2004 to 2007, there was nearly a 25 percent reduction in train accidents.

 

Much of this success stems from FRA’s National Rail Safety Action Plan , which was launched in May, 2005 and addresses the key safety issues facing the nation’s rail industry.

 

We recently announced that we have successfully achieved ALL of the goals laid out in the Action Plan.   I won’t take the time to list the details, but we have aggressively implemented projects to:  

 

1)                  Reduce Human Factor-Caused Accidents  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)                  Address Fatigue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3)                  Improve Track Safety

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)                  Enhance Hazmat Safety & Emergency Response        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)                  Strengthen the FRA Compliance & Enforcement Program, and

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)                  Further Improve Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And while these achievements are noteworthy, they should not blind us to the safety problems that still exist and which we must tackle today.

 

As state regulators, you, too, play an important role in instituting best practices, promoting railroad safety, and working closely with communities and community groups to educate and institute safety measures at or near railroads.

 

I cannot understate the importance YOU have in the promotion of our safety goals and creating a culture of safety.

 

I want to thank several of the states here today for your involvement in our State Participation Program, where your state inspectors work with FRA inspectors to enforce federal rail safety regulations.   It is a safety program that works.

Nor can we forget the important role the railroads themselves play in ensuring safety for their employees, their passengers and the communities through which they operate. I remind railroad managers of that point constantly.   I also have told them in no uncertain terms that, when FRA finds a safety problem, we will take all necessary and appropriate enforcement actions to make certain problems get corrected.

However, FRA must be more than just a collector of violation fines.   We’d prefer to see railroads writing checks to upgrade their infrastructure with safety and capacity improvements rather than to pay penalties to Uncle Sam.

 

And on the issue of capacity improvements, we’ve got a real opportunity before us as we prepare for reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU to put an end to wasteful earmarks, polluting traffic jams and politically driven investments that disregard the needs of commuters and shippers.   But the Bush Administration recognizes that it’s going to require a fundamentally new federal approach to transportation projects that

 

For our part, FRA recently announced the first ever Federal-State partnership grant program to improve intercity passenger rail service.   We want states – and maybe several states working together – to take the lead to identify and implement projects that respond to the needs of their rail travelers.

 

Eligible projects under this $30 million capital grant program include:   upgrading existing track to permit higher maximum operating speeds, adding or lengthening passing tracks to increase rail line capacity, improving track switches and signaling systems to advance reliability and safety, and purchasing new passenger rail cars to enhance the travel experience.

 

I would be surprised to hear if there is a state in the Northeast which doesn’t have some sort of task force or commission studying how to provide new or improved, passenger rail service.  

 

I feel strongly about moving the development of intercity passenger rail in this direction.   We requested $100 million for this grant program in the Administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2009, and I hope that Congress fully funds our proposal.

 

As Secretary Peters has said many times, the future of transportation infrastructure repair and development doesn’t begin and end with the federal government.  

 

Private industry, state, county and local governments must bear some of the burden.

 

We have a unique opportunity to unleash a new wave of congestion relief and capacity enhancements by tapping into the more than $400 billion in private capital available today for transportation projects.   The use of private investment dollars has been most prevalent in the highway sector—just look at the recent news about the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  

 

And although the rail business started the year a little flat, that’s changing and the investment community sees the relative strength of the industry and the future it holds.

 

Warren Buffet recently acquired a significant stake in BNSF, and he also bought heavily into Union Tank Car.

 

These acquisitions have made those in the transportation industry take notice, and many transportation experts believe the United States is headed toward a railway resurgence that will endure for some time to come.  

 

Which is good, because rail is a key solution to the congestion problem.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that as the roads become busier, demand for rail-freight transportation will increase to 37 billion tons in 2035 from 19 billion tons in 2007, a 93 percent increase.

 

The reasons for this are simple.   Pennsylvania coal can’t be hauled on an airplane.   There aren’t enough tanker trucks in existence to carry the amounts of chlorine or other hazardous materials needed for our economy.   And for many of the other loads that could be carried by air or truck, no one can do it as cheaply and efficiently as a train.  

 

To keep up with the growth in rail, the investment will be large.   One study estimates $148 billion must be spent during the next 30 years to revamp the nation's rail system with new track, signals, bridges, tunnels, terminals and service facilities.

 

The country's largest railroads, known as Class I railroads, are expected to be responsible for about $135 billion of that amount.    Additionally, the cost to upgrade the nation's short line and regional railroads to accommodate standard rail cars is expected to be about $7 billion through 2035.

 

The good news is that the railroads are starting to do their part to maintain and expand infrastructure by investing in improved locomotive technology, new track, and track maintenance.   The Class I railroads combined spent over $19 billion of their own money on maintenance, and $2 billion for capacity improvements in 2007, the highest level of investment in recent years.   And, they intend to spend more in 2008.

 

This build out comes as the industry transitions away from its chief role in recent decades of hauling coal, timber and other raw materials in manufacturing regions. Now, increasingly, railroads are moving finished consumer goods, often made in Asia , from ports to major cities through several rail corridors.

 

I know from my experience in Albany that NASTO members tend to be East Coast focused, but I really think we need to look at other areas of the country for inspiration and possible solutions.  

 

A prime example of a successful effort is the $150 million Heartland Corridor, which will improve rail capacity to handle freight between East Coast ports in Virginia and the Midwest by increasing the height of tunnels and removing other overhead obstacles to give double-stack intermodal trains a much shorter and more direct route from Hampton Roads to Columbus and then on to Chicago. This direct route—paid for with federal, state and Norfolk Southern Railway funding--will shave more than 200 miles from the current routing.

 

Norfolk Southern is also developing its Crescent Corridor, a network of tracks between the New York City area and New Orleans , to provide a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to widening highways such as Interstate 81.   NS recently announced it also will spend money to reopen a more direct line from Boston to Albany , citing the demand and potential for future growth.

 

In addition to the collaborative financing mechanisms for these rail corridors, there are “third party” projects, where non-railroad private-sector interests build and operate specific pieces of infrastructure, funding it through tolls, user fees, or by developing intermodal inland ports.

 

For example, as rail transport is becoming more efficient, logistics companies are building huge warehouse and intermodal facilities along train routes, bringing affordable shipping closer to manufacturers and farmers.

 

We are also championing new technologies that will lead to even greater safety and efficiency on the rails.   Two of the most important opportunities FRA is aggressively promoting today are Positive Train Control and Electronically Controlled Pneumatic brakes.

 

In late 2006, FRA approved the first PTC system for regular freight service capable of automatically controlling train speed and movements to prevent certain accidents while improving railroad operational efficiencies.  

 

In the past seven months, under FRA waiver approval, two major railroads began operating trains fully equipped with ECP brake technology.   This technology leads to better train control, shorter stopping distances, and a lower risk of derailments.   In fact, one of those demonstration trains is operating on a coal run right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania .

 

When PTC and ECP technology are both in widespread use throughout the rail industry, it will lead to capacity improvements as more trains can be spaced closer together on existing track and still operate with increased safety.   

 

The final item I want to discuss is how FRA will be enhancing the ways in which we provide safety oversight for the railroads.   We will be moving towards a risk-based model of accident prevention which will augment the traditional behavior-based model of regulations and fines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With rail-related accidents, injuries, and deaths are already at historically low levels, FRA seeks to create a robust Risk Reduction Program to further drive down those key safety measures at a reasonable cost and in a practical manner before accidents and injuries occur. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRA will be placing much greater emphasis on developing models of how railroads can systematically evaluate safety risks and implement plans to eliminate or reduce the chance for mistakes that can lead to train accidents or employee injuries. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A safety risk reduction program could integrate previous voluntary efforts in the human factors area, such as and the ongoing confidential close call reporting program, while extending similar risk management techniques to track safety and other areas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know this is a new direction in rail safety.   I believe we have the tools to make it work; however, we need the buy in of management and labor to be successful.   I am organizing a Safety Summit with the industry in August to discuss in detail our plans for this risk reduction approach and to get the valuable input of those who manage and make the railroads work every day.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To wrap up, FRA stands ready to work with you to develop intercity passenger rail corridors, to improve freight rail routes, and most importantly to enhance rail safety in every community where trains operate.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you and I’ll now open up the floor to questions.