FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 5, 1999 SB-99-03

NTSB PUBLIC HEARING ON UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
SET FOR FEBRUARY 24-25 IN DALLAS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Transportation Safety Board will reconvene a public hearing in Dallas, Texas, as part of its ongoing Special Investigation into safety issues at the Union Pacific Railroad Company.

The two-day hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, February 24th, at the Adams Mark Hotel, 400 N. Olive Street, Dallas, Texas. The hearing will be chaired by NTSB Member John Goglia.

This hearing is a follow up to a hearing held in March of 1998 in Springfield, Virginia, where the Board addressed safety issues at UP since its merger with Southern Pacific Railroad, and examined government oversight and the railroad’s safety program. The hearing was recessed urging the parties to submit more facts, conclusions, and recommendations that would drive towards safety improvements.

“Rail safety is a major concern of the Safety Board,” said Member Goglia. “The NTSB is interested in the changes and improvements in operations and functions of UP since our last hearing. This hearing will give us the opportunity to reexamine and record those improvements. We have a responsibility to provide a safe transportation system for the citizens of our country.”

The focus of the hearing will be to complete the investigative record on the UP Special Investigation in the following areas: assess UP’s progress in addressing issues identified in the March 1998 hearing; assess the effectiveness of Federal Railroad Administration oversight; gather information to support recommendations for special oversight programs to be put in place to monitor merging companies; and examine the current effectiveness of UP’s own oversight program.

Member Goglia will chair the Board of Inquiry, made up of senior Safety Board staff. A technical panel of NTSB investigators will lead the questioning of witnesses, who will also be examined by representatives of the following parties to the hearing: Union Pacific Railroad, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Texas Railroad Commission, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and the United Transportation Union.

Information from the hearing will be used as part of the Board’s Special Investigation of 15 accidents that occurred on the Union Pacific Railroad.

Media Contact: Keith Holloway (202) 314-6100

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