Good afternoon.

Every day, trains in America travel more than 1.5 million miles to transport passengers to their destinations and deliver goods to the marketplace. America’s rail system is a vast network of over 233,000 miles of track that stitch the nation together, serving as arteries for commerce, connecting local communities, and driving our national economy.

And, as America’s economic engine continues to accelerate, increased demands are being placed on our rails – in the form of more trains on our tracks than ever before.

In order for this economic progress to continue, safety must remain the core principle that guides operations on our nation’s rail system. We have got to keep our focus on safety to keep our trains moving.

Although the railroad industry’s overall safety record is positive, very serious train accidents continue to occur. The accident in Graniteville, South Carolina, served to underscore that aggressive action must be taken to help prevent these tragedies.

And that is why, today, I am unveiling a plan that details the Department of Transportation’s new, comprehensive approach to improving safety along America’s railroad network.

The Rail Safety Action Plan will target the most frequent, highest risk causes of accidents, focus federal oversight and inspection resources, and accelerate research into new technologies that can vastly improve safety.

Our plan targets the fundamental factors that play a role in rail accidents.

We will work to reduce accidents caused by human error, address railroad operator fatigue, improve track safety, and enhance the safety of hazardous materials shipments. We also seek to improve highway-rail grade crossing safety and to bring federal inspection and enforcement resources to bear where they are needed the most.

Human error is the largest single factor in train accidents, accounting for 38 percent of all accidents over the last five years.

Preliminary findings from the tragedy in Graniteville point to human error as the cause – the failure of a train crew to properly line a switch for main-line track movements. The next train to travel those rails was directed onto the wrong track, where it collided with a standing train, resulting in a release of chlorine gas and a tragic loss of life.

Currently, few of these types of human errors are actually addressed by Federal Railroad Administration regulations.

It is time we take a serious look at some of these operating practices to provide more specific federal oversight. On Wednesday, I will ask the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee – a group created to advise FRA on rail safety issues – to develop recommendations for a federal rule that will address the leading causes of human factor accidents.

Some of those leading causes include improperly lined switches, pushing cars from behind without a person in front to monitor conditions ahead, and leaving cars on operational track.

I have set a tight but reasonable timetable for receiving these recommendations so that the Department can move forward with a new rule to address accidents caused by human factors by September of 2006.

Another serious problem that the Rail Safety Action Plan addresses is crew fatigue. For the past year, FRA has been collecting data on crew fatigue as part of its accident investigation process.

Preliminary results tend to confirm that as many as one-quarter of all human factor accidents are related to a diminished state of alertness. As a result, we are accelerating research, to be concluded by year’s end, on a scientifically-based fatigue model, to more precisely determine the role that fatigue plays in accidents. When the model is validated, we will make it available to the railroads as a foundation for developing crew schedules based on the best current science.

We are also seeking to understand the lessons of near misses. For those incidents that do not result in an accident but very well could have, the Department is rolling out a new pilot project to document these “close calls.” This includes instances such as switches not being restored for main track usage, trains almost colliding, trains not obeying signals, or vehicles almost being hit at a grade crossing.

Participating railroads will now report these close calls to the FRA to help develop corrective actions, and to prevent future accidents.

While human factors are the greatest cause of train accidents, track defects are a close second. In recent years, there has been significant progress in lowering the number of track-caused accidents. This is largely a result of focused federal inspections in high-risk areas and strong enforcement procedures.

However, some of the leading causes of track-related accidents, such as broken joint bars and broken rails, are very difficult to detect with the naked eye.

Under the action plan, the FRA will complete research by October of this year on a photo imaging system that can capture and analyze images of joint bars – the steel bars used to join sections of track – to detect cracks.

The Department is also researching new technology to alert train crews to broken rails that may lie ahead.

In addition, the Department is investing in special state-of-the-art rail cars that automatically inspect track integrity as they roll along the rails. We currently have two such rail cars in our inventory, and this Wednesday, in Baton Rouge, we will launch the newest vehicle in our inspection fleet.

Under the plan, FRA will add two more high-tech inspection vehicles to its fleet next year, giving us the combined ability to survey and inspect approximately 100,000 miles of track every year.

The Action Plan also details a new process that will greatly improve the management of our inspection resources.

The FRA is now implementing the first phase of the National Inspection Plan, which will revolutionize the way that we deploy inspection and enforcement resources across the country. Using data as our guide, FRA now will be able to target resources to states, regions, and even specific railroads to minimize fatalities, injuries, and accidents.

We sent additional inspectors to San Antonio, Texas, late last year when we saw an increase in accidents. But the National Inspection Plan gives the Department a new way of doing business that will allow us to target potential safety hot spots before accidents strike.

The plan also addresses the safe transport by rail of hazardous materials. The rail industry transports roughly 1.7 million shipments of hazardous materials annually, ordinarily without incident. But the Graniteville accident demonstrates the devastating consequences when something does go wrong.

Through the Safety Action Plan, the FRA is working to both reduce the likelihood that a train accident will result in a hazardous materials release, and to ensure that, if a release does occur, local emergency responders will be prepared.

At FRA’s urging, the railroad industry will now provide on request to local emergency responders a ranked listing of the top 25 hazardous materials transported through their community.

More importantly, local responders must have access to key train information when an accident occurs. By July of this year, FRA will launch a new pilot project providing emergency responders with real-time information about the hazardous materials involved in a train accident.

Understanding the forces that are placed on tank cars is another key to preventing the release of hazardous materials in future accidents. To this end, the Rail Safety Action Plan calls for accelerating research on the structural integrity of tank cars.

Following the Minot, North Dakota, derailment in 2002, which resulted in one death and 11 injuries due to the release of anhydrous ammonia, FRA initiated a comprehensive, three-phase assessment of the consequences of accidents involving tank cars.

We are analyzing the forces placed upon a tank car in a derailment. Empowered with this information, we will establish a system to rank the ability of a tank car, based on its design and operational history, to withstand these forces under a variety of environmental conditions.

FRA is also directing research into technology to help alleviate risk in so-called “dark territory” – or railroad lines without signal systems. To alleviate the risks in these areas, we are looking at low-cost options that include devices to detect if switches are in the correct position, as well as circuits to detect broken rails.

And in an effort to bring next generation technologies to bear on improving rail safety, President Bush’s budget proposal seeks funding to complete a nationwide GPS system that can be used to more accurately pinpoint trains throughout the system.

With more traffic on our roads than ever before, the nation’s grade crossings present another highly vulnerable segment of America’s rail system. Highway-rail grade crossing collisions are the second leading cause of death in the railroad industry.

The number of grade crossing deaths has declined steadily over the last decade. But 2004 saw an increase in crossing fatalities over the previous year.

In response, we are renewing efforts to remind railroads of their duty to preserve data from locomotive event recorders – the black boxes in trains. Railroads must report accidents and preserve evidence that can be used to help local law enforcement in their investigations into crossing accidents.

In closing, the Rail Safety Action Plan that I have outlined today sets a new, determined course for improving railroad safety in America. It builds on our past successes and responds to emerging concerns.

Growth in both freight and vehicle traffic has created new challenges, but we must keep our nation’s network of rails moving safely and efficiently in order to keep the American economy moving.

I look forward to working with the railroad industry, with local and state leaders, and with other interested parties as we forge ahead to ensure the safe operation of America’s rail network.

Thank you, and now I will be happy to take your questions.

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