New Railroad Track Inspection Standards Forthcoming After West Virginia Derailment Findings Released
The Federal Railroad Administration announced yesterday new upcoming rail-track standards in connection with reporting its detailed findings of the crude train derailment earlier this year in West Virginia. The agency announced it will release a Safety Advisory, which urges closer and more detailed inspections where defects and flaws are suspected, and stronger training for rail inspection vehicle operators. It also announced that the agency will explore the need for rail-head wear standards and potentially require railroads to slow trains or replace a rail when certain conditions pose a safety risk. The railroad involved in the West Virginia derailment also agreed to require internal rail flaw operators to review previous inspection data alongside real-time data in order to assist in identifying conditions and flaws that have changed or worsened between inspections. The agency stated that the vertical split head broken rail, the cause of the West Virginia derailment, was missed in at least two prior track inspections preceding the derailment. The full press release is available here.
