TRANSPORTATION - BTS - Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Figure 3-28Total Train Incidents: 1978-98(Annual totals)12,000Number of incidents10,0008,0006,0004,0002,00001978 1980 1985 1990 1995 1998Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Accident/Incident Overview(Washington, DC: Various years).Figure 3-29Fatalities in Train Incidents: 1978-98(Annual totals)8070Number of fatalities60504030201001978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Accident/IncidentOverview (Washington, DC: Various years).Significant challenges in the railroad industry have confronted the USDOT from the time of itscreation in 1966. The FRA was granted broad safety rulemaking authority under the FederalRailroad Safety Act of 1970 [Public Law 91-458] and set the first federal track safety standardsin 1971 [36 Federal Register 20336] and, in 1973, set freight car safety standards [38 FederalRegister 32230]. The new regulations did not immediately improve the railroads’ safetyperformance. In 1978, total train crashes, excluding highway-rail grade crossing and trespassincidents, reached 10,991 with 61 fatalities, including 24 deaths resulting from the release ofhazardous materials from 232 railcars involved in train crashes [USDOT FRA 2000].Part of the problem in the mid-1970s was that economic regulation curtailed the railroadindustry’s ability to generate sufficient revenues to maintain its infrastructure. The StaggersRail Act of 1980—legislation that liberalized the regulatory environment for railroads—initiated the industry’s return to financial recovery. Safety improved with increased3-34