Summary

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has improved its track inspection program and has a sound strategy for correcting weaknesses that GAO flagged in earlier reports. To further strengthen rail safety, FRA needs to incorporate site-specific data on passenger and hazardous materials traffic in its inspection plan and improve the reliability of accident and injury data. Because of gaps and inaccuracies in the plan's data, FRA officials do not believe the plan will help them develop annual strategies for targeting inspections of high-risk track. Also, the usefulness of the staffing and evaluation components is limited because they rely on the plan's questionable data. FRA has enhanced its daily oversight of track safety efforts. FRA has not, however, always enforced its policy that inspectors examine track inspection records to review a railroad's compliance history before physically inspecting track. FRA faces a difficult challenge in revising the safety standards for excepted track. FRA intended that exceptions apply to little-used lines that, for economic reasons, could not be brought up to minimal safety standards. Yet the number of reported accidents and cited defects on excepted track has increased, and FRA is concerned that railroads have abused the excepted track provision. Regulations prohibit FRA inspectors from writing violations for excepted track and do not require railroads to fix cited defects.

GAO found that: (1) FRA has improved its track inspection program, and its strategy for correcting its weaknesses is sound; (2) to further strengthen rail safety, FRA needs to incorporate site-specific data on passenger and hazardous materials traffic in its inspection plan and improve the reliability of accident and injury data; (3) FRA has enhanced its daily oversight of track safety activities; (4) inspectors are applying track safety regulations and reporting track defects more consistently than before; (5) FRA does not always enforce its policy that inspectors review a railroad's compliance history before physically inspecting a track; (6) FRA faces a difficult challenge in revising the safety standards for excepted track; (7) track safety regulations do not allow FRA inspectors to write violations for excepted track and do not require railroads to fix cited defects; and (8) the number of reported accidents and cited defects on excepted track has increased, and FRA is concerned that railroads have abused the excepted track provision.