Track Defects Top Cause of ’09 Accidents

Defects in railroad tracks were the leading cause of train accidents in the first five months of 2009, says a Federal Railroad Administration report.

While there were fewer track defects than in the same 2008 period, human causes and train equipment defects – two other FRA accident categories – both declined more sharply this year as falling traffic levels due to the recession helped bring down the total number of train wrecks.

The safety agency said out of 736 train accidents this year through May, track defects were the primary cause in 239 or 32.47 percent of them. A year earlier, 1,042 accidents were reported with 351 due to track problems, for 33.69 percent.

This does not include such incidents as road crossing or trespass, in which automobile drivers or pedestrians got onto tracks and were struck by trains. About half the train accidents take place in rail yards. Only 57 accidents through May involved train collisions, down from 75 a year earlier.

In that 2008 period, human factors were the main cause in 372 accidents or 35.7 percent, the most of any single FRA category. This year, human causes were down to 233 for 31.66 percent.

In the past, rail industry officials and federal policy makers have targeted human factors as the leading cause of accidents. Unions have pressed for more training by railroads and for elimination of off-the-clock limbo time in which workers would remain out on the line beyond scheduled work hours and therefore at higher risk of fatigue.

Late last year, Congress ordered changes in work hours that took effect this summer and could reduce work-schedule fatigue risks.

Yet the FRA breakdown also lists three types of separate mechanical categories for accident causes – track, equipment and signal defects – against a single human factors grouping and a miscellaneous category of causes that do not fit into the other four.

For this year’s January-May period, 51.36 percent of train accidents came from the three mechanical categories combined, up from 48.86 percent last year. That is partly because this year has seen more instances in which signal defects caused accidents – 22 times or 2.99 percent in 2009 compared with 18 or 1.73 percent in 2008.

And while the number of train accidents was lower this year, the report shows that both years saw 10 accidents involving hazardous materials releases from 14 railcars in the first five months. The number of accidents involving passenger trains was nearly identical as well – 46 this year, and 47 in 2008.