Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed: (1) the reliability and accuracy of injury and accident data railroads reported to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); and (2) FRA efforts to ensure data accuracy.

GAO found that: (1) although FRA relies on injury and accident reports as a basis for conducting its railroad safety program, it does not require railroads to have internal controls for reporting; (2) the five railroads GAO visited were either underreporting the number of injuries and accidents, understating the number of lost workdays and the estimated cost of damages due to train accidents, or not maintaining sufficient information for GAO to determine reporting accuracy; (3) the railroads' inaccurate reporting generally occurred because they did not collect the most current data available before reporting to FRA; (4) FRA inspectors focused their efforts on detecting individual reporting errors, rather than on railroad reporting procedures; and (5) inspectors did not have the authority to cite railroads for internal control weaknesses.