Thursday, December 01, 2005 (Washington, DC ) The comprehensive and effective highway-rail grade crossing safety oversight program of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will be further strengthened as a result of recommendations made by the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General. They will help FRA determine the accuracy of grade crossing accident information reported by the railroads and may contribute to our understanding of the causes of grade crossing collisions.

The report recognizes many of the aggressive actions taken by FRA in the past two years to improve our grade crossing safety inspection and enforcement capabilities. In particular, FRA has implemented new procedures to ensure railroads make all required reports when a grade crossing accident occurs; has more clearly defined to FRA regional offices when to conduct a grade crossing accident investigation; and has instituted an enhanced data analysis process to better direct FRA grade crossing safety enforcement activities.

In 1994, and again in 2004, the Secretary of Transportation issued a Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan that emphasizes improvements in engineering, enforcement, and education as methods to prevent grade crossing accidents. From 1995 to 2004, the number of grade crossing collisions declined by 34 percent, the frequency of such collisions per million train miles decreased by 42 percent, and the number of fatalities fell by 36 percent. Further, the amount of civil penalties collected by FRA each year from railroads for violations of federal grade crossing safety regulations has tripled since 2000.