Rail Safety: The Federal Railroad Administration Is Better Targeting Its Oversight, but Needs to Assess the Impact of Its Efforts

United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2007-01-30 monographic deposited born digital 19 p. GA 1.13:GAO-07-390T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T P0b002ee18038ba35 f:d07390t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T GAO-07-390T Accident prevention Accidents Agency evaluation Inspection Performance measures Policy evaluation Railroad accidents Railroad industry Railroad regulation Railroad safety Risk management Safety regulation Safety standards Strategic planning Transportation Government agency oversight Policies and procedures FRA National Rail Safety Action Plan Testimony A65386 Rail Safety: The Federal Railroad Administration Is Better Targeting Its Oversight, but Needs to Assess the Impact of Its Efforts Although the overall safety record of the railroad industry, as measured by the number of train accidents per million miles traveled, has improved markedly since 1980, there has been little or no overall improvement over the past decade. Serious accidents resulting in injuries and deaths continue to occur, such as one in Graniteville, South Carolina, that resulted in 9 deaths and 292 injuries. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) develops safety standards and inspects and enforces railroads' compliance with these standards. On January 26, 2007, GAO reported on FRA's overall safety oversight strategy. (See GAO-07-149.) The report discussed how FRA (1) focuses its efforts on the highest priority risks related to train accidents in planning its oversight, (2) identifies safety problems on railroad systems in carrying out its oversight, and (3) assesses the impact of its oversight efforts on safety. GAO recommended that FRA (1) put into place measures of the results of its inspection and enforcement programs and (2) evaluate its enforcement program. In reviewing a draft of that report, the Department of Transportation did not provide overall views on its contents or its recommendations. The statement is based on GAO's recent report. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T.pdf GAO-07-390T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-07-390T Testimony GAO-07-390T; Rail Safety: The Federal Railroad Administration Is Better Targeting Its Oversight, but Needs to Assess the Impact of Its Efforts; Accident prevention Accidents Agency evaluation Inspection Performance measures Policy evaluation Railroad accidents Railroad industry Railroad regulation Railroad safety Risk management Safety regulation Safety standards Strategic planning Transportation Government agency oversight Policies and procedures FRA National Rail Safety Action Plan