HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-15 Packet 06.A.
Freight Rail Facts & Figures
SAFETY
Freight railroads are the safest way to move goods over land.
In March 2023, freight railroads announced seven key safety measuresto help drive
accidents to zero, including installing approximately 1,000 new detectors.
The last decade was the safest everfor U.S. railroads, with the hazmat accident rateat an
all-time low.
If the accident rate and the employee injury rate for all railroads had stayed the same since
1980, there would have been more than 213,000 additional train accidents since 1980 and
more than 706,000 additional injuries/illnesses/fatalities.For just Class I railroads, as
defined by the FRA and using the FRA numbers (not the R-1 numbers) for train-miles, the
comparable savings from 1980 through 2022 are 176,000 accidents and 510,000 injuries.
America’s railroads today have lower employee injury rates than most other major
industries, including trucking, manufacturing, construction — even grocery stores. The rail
employee injury rate in 2022 was an all-time low.
Grade crossingcollisions were down 23% last year compared to 2000, but along with
trespass incidents, these preventable accidents remain persistent challenges across the
rail industry. Over 95% of rail-related fatalities are trespassers or grade crossing users. The
combined total of trespasser and suicide fatalities for 2022 increased by 4% from 2021.
HAZMAT SAFETY
More than 99.9% of all hazmatmoved by rail reaches its destination without a release
caused by a train accident. Since 2000, the hazmat accident rate is down78%.
Railroads train tens of thousands of first responderseach year and developed the AskRail™
app,which helps emergency responders effectively and safely respond to an incident by
providing immediate information about railcars carrying hazmat.
Railroads work closely with industry and government partners, including theFederal
Railroad Administration (FRA), the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA).
Railroads provide 24-hour emergency hotlines for first responders and the public, have
24/7 hazmat safety teams and emergency response experts strategically located
throughout the network and have dedicated police forces that work alongside emergency
responders in the event of an emergency.
April2023 / Sign up for AAR’s newsletter at AAR.org/Signal