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Railroads and IoT – Part 4

Copyright © 2023 Integration Expert LLC. All rights reserved. More information: info@integrationexpert.com The conclusions in this document represent our opinions supporting further study and proofs of technology.

What did I miss in Parts 1, 2, and 3?

The Ohio railway tragedy of 2023 has been traced to a serious mechanical problem in one of the railcars that has been recognized for over 100 years. Parts 1, 2, and 3  relate this story. Part 4 relates another serious issue: train/vehicle collisions. Any train accident is bad and getting worse, made more expensive and hazardous by carrying flammable and toxic cargoes.

In our opinion, we did not expect much action from the railroad industry, based on testimony to Congress in March 2023. Norfolk Southern’s CEO made minimal suggestions: minor changes to a 70-year-old trackside monitoring scheme called hot box detectors.

With the explosion of InternetOfThings (IoT) sensors, inexpensive video, and the Internet availability along every railway roadbed, the cost has never been lower.

The Federal Government should set up a Railcar Monitoring Command (RMCom) shared by the Commerce Department, DARPA, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA/DoT), a high-tech, FAA-like national organization to install, monitor, and manage this instrumentation, as well as grade crossing and traffic enforcement.

Parts 1, 2, and 3 recommend railcar monitoring using advanced IoT sensors to track and identify issues and hazards all along the length of a train. Part 4 recommends that IoT and other advanced technology be applied to systems between trains and roadway grade crossings.

Railroad grade crossing accident losses are manageable

Railroad grade crossings can be defined as a place where train traffic and vehicle traffic cross each other. Switches activated by approaching trains sound alarms then try to discourage traffic with physical barriers. There are several accident causes:

  • A vehicle is stuck on the railroad tracks, either through mechanical failure or to be unlucky enough to be stopped in heavy traffic right on the tracks
  • A driver decides to ignore alarms and drive around barriers to avoid waiting
  • Railroad signals are not working or the driver fails to see the train at a crossing without signals.

Most committee recommendations in past decades rely on driver education, revamped signaling, or expensive re-routing or bridge building to avoid grade crossings altogether.

From Appendix III, the 2023 Department of Transportation (DoT) $570 million program will only affect 400 grade crossings out of the 210,000 grade crossings in the US. Most of the funds go to building bridges or re-routing.

The DoT programs tend to fund passive, 20th Century approaches when 21st Century approaches that clearly highlight the role vehicle drivers accept when crossing railroad tracks. If we take a step back to look at the overall problem, the solutions we propose in Parts 1, 2, and 3 take on a new importance. Earlier Parts focused on IoT (Internet of Things) sensors mitigating railcar problems that cause thousands of accidents each year.

IoT technology can also mitigate Grade Crossing accidents:

  • Extend train engineer vision of, monitoring, and communications with people in harm’s way at upcoming grade crossings
  • Pass accurate information to drivers about legal and deadly personal risks breaking the rules. Decrease driver assumptions about safety margins and second trains approaching.
  • Seriously fine anyone breaking various laws. “Remember, you could cause the next multi-million-dollar community catastrophe.”
  • IoT data supports AI and social media initiatives at all levels, including local programs.

Super-Smart grade crossing monitors (SSGM) address the three accident modes

SSGMs are comprised of four components:

  • Vehicle-visible screens just like DoT traffic signs that provide detailed yellow, then red warnings to drivers not to block tracks prior to crossing barriers being lowered
  • Multiple cameras to identify rail blockage, identify approaching threats, and record offender information and progress of hazard and train against timing
  • Locomotive cab displays and microphones that can trigger video messages, horns, and verbal warnings
  • RMCom central US monitoring acts as clearinghouse for SSGM local support and offender tracking to refer to state or local authorities

Original Photo By Jared Wenzelburger 

What would be the impact on accident statistics?

We identified 376 unique accident codes used by the FRA tracking system. While we identified 136 potential accident codes that could be affected by railcar IoT (see Part 3), we identified 10 potential accident codes shown. Over a 20-year period, grade crossing accidents were primarily responsible for a conservative $360 million loss in 4,452 unique incidents.

As a comparison, railcar code accidents over the same period amounted to $3.5 billion and 22,000 accidents. This is not to discount one type of code over another; grade crossing accidents are generally deadly and there is plenty of room for improvement. Any railroad accident ‘rolls the dice’ that can directly result in major consequences and liability.

This is not just another “red light” camera to make money for the state

Critics make an argument that enforcement cameras such as red light cameras of the early 2000’s did not decrease accidents and were subject to tampering by city officials who changed the traffic signals to increase revenue. In Appendix I, the authors argue that removing red light cameras resulted in a net change in the number of accidents by a net 3 percent, replacing T-bone accidents (26 percent drop) with assorted rear-end miscellaneous accidents. In fact, the red light cameras achieved two overwhelming goals if applied to railroad crossings: the 26% drop in T-bone (or, trains blasting sideways vehicle) plus a 67% drop in running the red light itself (or, no train accident at all).

So How Does It Work?

Similar video technology to our Part 3 document monitors the roadways, rail crossing, and up and down the track. Its encrypted signal connects to the Internet through fiber optic cable that runs along most tracks, the WorldWideWeb, cellular, or even satellite. It can store video locally so that it does not tie up resources until asked for.

Four features decrease the motivation of drivers to ‘race the train:’

  • A ‘running total’ similar to countdowns on subway platforms to indicate how long vehicle occupants have before they die
  • A warning blast and audio from the train engineer to clear the area if a vehicle is stopped on the tracks along with a similar countdown (5 minutes 40 seconds)
  • Specific warnings about, for instance, $1,000 fines once a one-minute point is reached then $2,000 once the barriers are down, $10,000 if the train is damaged
  • Trackside break-glass emergency videophone that could call the local emergency services and the train engineer allowing instant communication from the crossing site

Train engineers also receive early warning to identify and take action regarding potential threats, either slowing or notifying authorities such as RMCom. The engineer could monitor every grade crossing, as well as video ‘threat areas’ that are not grade crossings, prior to the trip, like flipping through a picture album. When the train engineer notifies RMCom about a problem, RMCom can issue a warning and service notification for that particular track section that all railroads can monitor—not unlike Waze for stopped cars in traffic.

Is This Complicated to Install and Maintain?

All of the components are off-the-shelf and can be carried by flat car to the grade crossing site. Two cement pads, 2 main units(light control, barrier control, video screen, klaxon, tower lights), inserts for horizontal truss extensions, barrier/light tower component, vertical tower extensions, local or solar power, and a pre-tested Internet connection are all that is required to get started. Just bolt the trusses together, link a few armored cables, and secure/lock the unit.

Maintenance may be as simple as unplug, replace the main unit, re-sync with RMCom headquarters. Minutes not days.

Why hasn’t this been considered before?

The video and network technology has been too primitive and fragile to be deployed in a hostile environment until recently. Other industries and government agencies are racing forward in projects to build productivity and decrease accidents.

An example of a comprehensive, 10-year study on grade crossing changes is the Texas Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan from August 2011. Of the 218 page report, technological recommendations are the same as in the 20th Century except for the use of LED lights. Only two paragraphs mention any futures about cameras.

  • Promote new enforcement technology: Support expansion of camera enforcement…
    • Develop a list of crossings: good candidates for camera enforcement….
    • Monitor success of pilot project in Grand Prairie, TX….
    • Recommend grade crossings for a pilot camera enforcement project in Houston..

For the history and recommendations from the report, see Appendix II.

Appendix I: Red Light Cameras and Types of Accident Prevention

Cameras can catch cars that run red lights, but that doesn’t make streets safer

(Editor Note: ….but it might for railroad grade crossings)

Published: August 15, 2018 6.23am EDT

Author  Justin Gallagher    Assistant Professor of Economics, Case Western Reserve University

Disclosure statement: Justin Gallagher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The automobile is a killer. In the U.S., 36,675 people died in traffic accidents in 2014. The year before, 2.3 million people were injured in traffic accidents.

During the past decade, over 438 U.S. municipalities, including 36 of the 50 most populous cities, have employed electronic monitoring programs in order to reduce the number of accidents. Red light camera programs specifically target drivers that run red lights.

In a study I co-authored with economist Paul J. Fisher, we examined all police-recorded traffic accidents for three large Texas cities over a 12-year period – hundreds of thousands of accidents. We found no evidence that red light cameras improve public safety. They don’t reduce the total number of vehicle accidents, the total number of individuals injured in accidents or the total number of incapacitating injuries that involve ambulance transport to a hospital.

Red light cameras

In a red light camera program, a camera is installed in a location where it can take photos or video of vehicles as they pass through the intersection. City employees or private contractors then review the photos. If a vehicle is in the intersection when the light is red, then a ticket is sent to the person who registered the vehicle.

These programs aim to reduce cross-street collisions. The idea is that drivers, fearing a higher chance that they will be fined, will be more likely to stop, lowering the number of angle, or “T-bone,” accidents.

Evidence clearly shows that camera programs are effective at decreasing the number of vehicles running red lights. In one study in Virginia, red light cameras reduced the number of total drivers running red lights by 67 percent.

However, cameras can have contradictory effects on traffic safety. Some drivers who would have otherwise continued to proceed through the intersection when the light is yellow or red will now attempt to stop. That means that the number of accidents caused by vehicles not stopping at a red light will likely decrease. (Editor note: Showing a countdown timer, yellow-red-barrier warnings, and increasing fines afford drivers a long time to decide not to proceed.)

But the number of accidents from stopping at a red light – such as rear-end accidents – is likely to increase. That’s not an inconsequential side effect. Some drivers will attempt to stop, accepting a higher risk of a non-angle accident like getting rear-ended, in order to avoid the expected fine. (Editor note: Rear-end accidents may be inconsequential since ‘running yellow lights’ is not expected. Also, such accidents are much more frequent in urban areas.)

The overall effect of a camera program on vehicle accidents and injuries depends on the net impact of these two effects. Overall driver safety could increase or decrease.

Our study

In our study, we focused on Houston, a major U.S. city that operated a large camera program at 66 intersections between 2006 and 2010.

One reason we chose Houston is to take advantage of the natural experiment that occurred when city residents passed a referendum in November 2010 to ban the cameras.

We accessed detailed accident information on every traffic accident in Texas from 2003 to 2014 through a public records information request. The data included the accident’s precise geocoded location; the type of accident; whether the driver ran a red light; and details on any injuries.

When the Houston cameras were removed, angle accidents increased by 26 percent. However, all other types of accidents decreased by 18 percent. Approximately one-third of all Houston intersection accidents are angle accidents. This suggests that the program’s drawbacks canceled out its benefits. (Editor note: Angle accidents are similar to train-vehicle collisions. Other types of accidents may not be relevant since ‘running yellow lights’ is not expected.)

Our study showed no evidence that cameras reduce the total number of accidents. We estimate that total accidents are reduced by a statistically insignificant 3 percent after the cameras are turned off. Likewise, there’s no evidence that the camera program reduced the number of traffic-related injuries or the likelihood of incurring an incapacitating injury.

The elevated number of traffic accidents at urban intersections is a serious public health issue. But our study shows that Houston’s camera program was ineffective in improving traffic safety. Electronic monitoring is not the solution. (Editor note: Decreasing the potential for mass casualty events and million-dollar accidents are more compelling arguments than traffic citations and two-vehicle accidents.)

Appendix II: Texas Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan (2007-2011) excerpt

Texas Stakeholder Guidance

In May of 2007, TxDOT held a meeting of 42 stakeholders in Austin, Texas (see Appendix B: Stakeholder Organization Participant List). The purpose of the meeting was to obtain guidance for developing a plan to address multiple-incident collision locations and other issues important to improving highway-rail grade crossing safety in Texas. FRA prepared the initial data report for the stakeholders meeting using data for the years 2000 through 2005. At the meeting the group drafted a guidance outline for an action plan which was finalized in September 2007. The stakeholder group requested additional data analysis to be done prior to developing the final draft of the action plan.

By this time, a decision was made to revise the entire data analysis in order to look at collisions during the years 2003-2007. The data analysis was performed by TxDOT staff with FRA assistance and was done between June and December of 2008.

The Rail Safety Improvement Act of October 2008 (Section 202) directed the FRA to identify ten states with the most grade crossings collisions during the years 2006-2008. The FRA first published a directed final rule on the “State Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plans“ in the Federal Register on September 2, 2009 (49CFR 211.33-reference 74FR45336). FRA solicited comments at this time; TxDOT did not make any comments, but one comment was received from another party which prompted FRA to undergo a formal rule-making process. It was not until June 28, 2010, that the Final Rule on State Action Plans was published (FRA-2009-0032: notice number five).

During this period of time waiting for FRA’s Final Rule, TxDOT and several of the stakeholders had already begun working on projects to address significant issues identified in the preliminary data analysis and/or the stakeholders guidance for the action plan. When the data analysis revealed several key indicators which might be contributing to multiple-collisions, TxDOT moved to address several significant aspects of the action plan and did not wait for the action plan document to be completed before starting to work on implementing some mitigation strategies. For example, in October of 2009, TxDOT began programming for 2010 with a new directive to include reviews of gated crossings which may have preemption issues. As a result, 67 crossings were programmed to have preemption reviews and 63 crossings with a history of multiple- collisions were also programmed for improvement in 2010.

As a result of the first Federal Register notice (September 2, 2009), TxDOT learned that FRA was requesting a five year time line for action plan implementation. TxDOT then began revising the written draft of the action plan to include a five-year implementation strategy (years 2010-2014). Several of the educational outreach projects suggested as guidance for the action plan were underway by other stakeholders beginning in 2008.

Those projects included: (1) the Texas Transportation Institute, which began and completed a law enforcement outreach project (Appendix E) and (2) Texas Operation Lifesaver Inc. which raised funds and produced and printed a second edition of the Texas Law Enforcement Pocket Guide and (3) the FRA – Region 5 Grade Crossing program which began an email newsletter in 2008 and has sent numerous mailings with engineering, safety and Operation Lifesaver documents to a large group of local community and state contacts through email.

At the May 14, 2007, stakeholders meeting a diverse group of local traffic engineers, railroad partners, Texas Operation Lifesaver, FHWA and FRA staff, as well as TxDOT staff, participated in a very productive brainstorming session. As a result of this meeting a list of action plan recommendations was developed under four program areas for grade crossing safety improvements: evaluation, engineering, education, and enforcement. This list was further developed through an email comment process and by the end of September 2007, the following list of guidance items for the “action plan” had been developed: Evaluation:

  • Perform additional analysis to study multiple-collision locations: Identify factors contributing to repeat collisions at the same crossings.
  • Utilize analysis of collision data at highway-rail grade crossings: Perform initial data analysis for development of the Texas Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan by identifying crossings with multiple-incident collisions for evaluation and safety upgrades. Establish a continued collision data analysis program for prioritizing and implementing safety improvements at multiple-incident locations.
  • Update the Section 130 program priority index used by TxDOT: Develop TRIMS (Texas Railroad Information Management System) a new web-based information system which will serve as TxDOT’s new grade crossing safety database, replacing the TxRAIL database. TRIMS is necessary to support ongoing efforts to update and maintain crossing inventory data utilizing GPS data and other geospatial systems available via the intranet. TRIMS will integrate information from several data sources (project history, project workflow, roadway inventory, railroad inventory, and collision data from FRA and TxDOT). These integrated data elements will incorporate a number of analysis tools to establish a new priority indexing method for selecting projects with geographic information capability to map traffic operations, collisions and other information to analyze rail corridors for improvement. The web-based component will provide ready access to TRIMS data for both public and private project stakeholders via a user password protected intranet portal. A state research project is currently underway to develop warrants for passive to active upgrades at highway-rail grade crossings and implement a new priority index formula for selecting crossings for upgrade utilizing federal Section 130 program funds. Preliminary findings of the research recommend incorporating additional factors such as roadway approach and track sight distance, number of passenger trains, and number of tracks into the existing priority index formula. The research project will also establish minimum thresholds of vehicle and train traffic through a set of warrants which must be met before passive crossings could be upgraded with train-activated warning devices.

Engineering:

(1) Consolidation: Continue to promote crossing consolidation through the TxDOT Grade Crossing Closure Program and encourage the following:

  • Request federal authority to require consolidations when using federal funds for crossing safety improvements;
  • Incorporate and document cost participation by railroad companies and local government into program goals, objectives, and priority indexing analysis tools; and
  • Develop a check-list for corridor analysis to aid in identifying crossings that might be closed.
  • Preemption: Emphasize the growing importance of preemption issues to grade crossing safety:The Ohio railway tragedy of 2023 has been traced to a serious mechanical problem in one of the railcars that has been recognized for over 100 years. Parts 1, 2, and 3  relate this story. Part 4 relates another serious issue: train/vehicle collisions. Any train accident is bad and getting worse, made more expensive and hazardous by carrying flammable and toxic cargoes.In our opinion, we did not expect much action from the railroad industry, based on testimony to Congress in March 2023. Norfolk Southern’s CEO made minimal suggestions: minor changes to a 70-year-old trackside monitoring scheme called hot box detectors.

    With the explosion of InternetOfThings (IoT) sensors, inexpensive video, and the Internet availability along every railway roadbed, the cost has never been lower.

    The Federal Government should set up a Railcar Monitoring Command (RMCom) shared by the Commerce Department, DARPA, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA/DoT), a high-tech, FAA-like national organization to install, monitor, and manage this instrumentation, as well as grade crossing and traffic enforcement.

    Parts 1, 2, and 3 recommend railcar monitoring using advanced IoT sensors to track and identify issues and hazards all along the length of a train. Part 4 recommends that IoT and other advanced technology be applied to systems between trains and roadway grade crossings.

(A) Hold a series of courses for traffic engineers and railroad signal personnel on “Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Signal and Traffic Signal Interconnections” in major metropolitan areas;

(B) Make TxDOT crossing signal preemption time worksheet and other instructional information available via TxDOT web site; and

(C) Research the state’s grade crossing inventory and crash records system to identify grade crossings adjacent to traffic intersections which could benefit from engineering upgrades for simultaneous or advance preemption.

(3) Low cost engineering improvements for multiple-collision locations: Recommend low cost engineering improvement options for local jurisdictions to make contributions to grade crossing engineering improvement through such means as:

  • Add street lights, median devices, advance warning signs or signals, YIELD or STOP signs and additional regulatory signs such as the “Do Not Stop on Tracks” sign;
  • Encourage installation of LED enhanced grade crossing traffic control regulatory advance warning signs;
  • Develop a process for identifying a list of crossings which could benefit from low-cost improvements; and
  • Disseminate a list of lower risk crossings appropriate for low cost engineering improvements to local road authorities and public works personnel.

Education:

  • Texas Operation Lifesaver: Support the statewide Texas Operation Lifesaver (TXOL) program to increase public education outreach using education, engineering and enforcement strategies to reduce grade crossing collisions and pedestrian incidents. Work with Texas Operation Lifesaver to:
  • Mitigate the high number of multiple collisions that continue to occur in high population regions, especially the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and the Houston-Galveston metropolitan area;
  • Enhance the program’s plans to train additional certified presenters;
  • Obtain increased media coverage on grade crossing safety information; and
  • Disseminate educational outreach materials to the judicial and law enforcement community in identified target counties and regions (Completed in 2009. See Appendix F for project to disseminate materials to judges and law enforcement and Appendix E for more information on Texas Operation Lifesaver).
  • Driver Education: Increase grade crossing safety information available for driver education programs. The following strategies are recommended:
    • Research options for increasing grade crossing safety education for inclusion in the state approved driver education, commercial driver license and defensive driving courses and tests;
    • Develop recommendations for achieving greater inclusion of grade crossing safety education in these courses; (C) Research options for including the most recent Operation Lifesaver Inc. driver education videos in Texas driver education courses, defensive driving, and CDL licensing programs; and (D) Develop a process for funding and disseminating videos to appropriate courses and training programs.
  • Public Safety Education Materials: Revise “Highway-Rail Grade Crossings: Public Education Materials Report No. 1469-4 and disseminate information through TxDOT and Texas Operation Lifesaver websites and via email.
  • Improve Communication of Grade Crossing Safety Information: Better utilize technology to share information on grade crossing safety with stakeholders and the public:
    • Establish an email process for sharing information with metropolitan public works departments and others in high collision counties utilizing TxDOT internet web-site and new TxDOT web-based railroad crossing inventory database. Information will include web-links to the state and national Operation Lifesaver program websites, the current version of the FHWA “Rail-Highway Grade Crossing Handbook,” TxDOT railroad crossing signal preemption time worksheet, TxDOT current crossing sign, signal and pavement marking plan sheets, and the FRA website on grade crossing collision reports, inventory information and the Train-Horn rule; and
    • Publish an annual FHWA report on the effectiveness of highway-rail grade crossing safety improvements funded by the Section 130 program (see Appendix D for report to FHWA on the effectiveness of the Texas Section 130 program).

Enforcement:

  • Promote grade crossing enforcement initiatives: Develop recommendations to expand the partnership with Texas Operation Lifesaver and the FRA Regional Law Enforcement Liaison to provide law enforcement outreach in high collision jurisdictions with information such as:
    • Locations with multiple-incident collisions; and
    • Printed materials to encourage enforcement of motor vehicle laws at grade crossings (completed).
  • Promote new enforcement technology: Support the expansion of camera enforcement programs:
    • Develop a list of crossings that would be good candidates for camera enforcement. This list would include, for example, gated crossings with multiple collisions or those frequently appearing on railroad near-collision or damaged gate reports;
    • Monitor success of pilot project in Grand Prairie, TX; and
    • Recommend grade crossings for a pilot camera enforcement project in the Houston metropolitan area

Appendix III: Press Releases and News Stories

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Funding for 63 Projects in 32 States That Will Help Reduce Train-Vehicle Collisions and Blocked Rail Crossings in the U.S.

Monday, June 5, 2023

President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes the first-ever dedicated grant program to help communities eliminate points where railroad tracks intersect with roads, which have blocked vehicle and pedestrian traffic, led to deadly vehicle-rail collisions, and prevented first responders from reaching emergencies

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced it has awarded more than $570 million in Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program funding to projects in 32 states. This inaugural round of funding will address more than 400 at-grade crossings nationwide, improve safety, and make it easier to get around railroad tracks by adding grade separations, closing at-grade crossings, and improving existing at-grade crossings where train tracks and roads intersect.

Preventing blocked crossings and collisions is one of many ways President Biden’s Investing in America agenda will make a difference in people’s everyday lives by improving safety and convenience and creating good-paying jobs to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. Last year, there were more than 2,000 highway-rail crossing collisions in the U.S. and more than 30,000 reports of blocked crossings submitted to FRA’s public complaint portal.

“Every year, commuters, residents, and first responders lose valuable time waiting at blocked railroad crossings – and worse, those crossings are too often the site of collisions that could be prevented,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we’re improving rail crossings in communities across the country to save lives, time, and resources for American families.”

For years, FRA has received complaints from citizens, states, and localities regarding the delays and disruptions caused by frequently blocked crossings that force residents to wait hours at intersections or take detours. These delays and disruptions can also prevent first responders from getting to emergencies quickly. Further, over 2,000 collisions occur every year at highway-rail grade crossings. The projects selected for funding in the first year of this program will greatly improve the quality of life in communities big and small, creating safer rail crossings and allowing people to get to and from their homes, schools, businesses, hospitals, fire stations, and workplaces without being stranded and delayed by a standing train.

“The Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program is another critical tool that FRA is using to make a lasting impact on the safety and transportation needs of communities nationwide,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “With these project selections and the many more that are to come, we will save lives and reshape infrastructure in ways that allow individuals to move through their neighborhoods seamlessly and safely.”

Along with projects that build or upgrade physical infrastructure at railroad crossings, FRA awarded $15.7 million for planning activities and $33.1 million for project development and design activities that will build a pipeline of projects for future funding. Twenty two percent of all funding, $127.5 million, was awarded to projects in rural areas or on Tribal lands.

Examples of major projects funded this year include:

  • Texas – West Belt Improvement Project (Phase 1) ($36,916,200)
    City of Houston
    The project will fund a 9,000 foot sealed corridor, construct four underpasses, close four at-grade crossings, and eliminate seven at-grade roadway-rail crossings total—crossings where more than 850 incidents of train blockages have been reported this year through FRA’s online portal. In addition to reducing commuter disruptions and delays, decreased vehicle idling at crossings will improve air quality and save people an estimated $12.7 million in lost fuel, according to the city. Texas is second in the nation in grade crossing fatalities, and this project will increase safety for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists, as well as reliable access for first responders. The Phase 1 project being funded by the Biden-Harris Administration and the City of Houston is also a critical step in developing a future 5-mile long quiet zone that will improve quality of life and remove train horn noise for nearly 15,000 households.
  • Alabama – Railroad Crossing Elimination on Shelby County Road 52 ($41,766,038)
    City of Pelham
    The project will construct a bridge and eliminate two existing at-grade crossings on Shelby County Road 52 to increase safety and mobility in the heart of Pelham and solve a long-standing and worsening problem with blocked crossings. Shelby County Road 52, which carries the second highest traffic volume of any east-to-west route in the area, currently cuts the city in half. When blocked by stalled or slow-moving trains, emergency and HAZMAT responders are prevented from accessing half the city. Infrastructure improvements will establish a permanent, reliable route for emergency responders and decrease delays for the 24,000 drivers utilizing County Road 52 daily. The new bridge will increase capacity to five lanes with a multi-use path to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists. These safety improvements will also strengthen the State’s supply chain, as more than 30 daily trains destined for the Port of the Mobile travel the CSX line through Pelham.
  • Indiana – Governors Parkway Railroad Overpass Project ($7,029,392)
    City of Hammond
    The project will construct a new, centrally located overpass and eliminate two grade crossings where Parrish Avenue and Arizona Avenue intersect with Norfolk Southern Railway’s rail line in the City of Hammond. Given its proximity to Chicago’s vast rail network, this area has persistently dealt with blocked crossings, congestion, and connectivity challenges. The new overpass and road alignment, called Governor’s Parkway, will provide safe and reliable passage for drivers, pedestrians, and emergency responders. Hammond is home to 53 at-grade crossings, with residents reporting slow or stalled trains blocking crossings lasting between 20 minutes and several hours. Depending on the length, trains can block dozens of local streets throughout the city. The new overpass will eliminate major traffic delays on some of the city’s busiest streets and better connect residents, like those in southeast Hessville, where highway rail crossing delays impact their ability to get to their jobs, the grocery store, or other required services and amenities. Governor’s Parkway will feature one lane of vehicle travel in each direction and a multi-use path for pedestrians and bikers. The project also includes more than $2.6 million in Federal Highway Administration funds.
  • Ohio – Unlocking the Iron Triangle: Grade Separation of S Town Street, Fostoria, Ohio ($7,245,000)
    City of Fostoria
    The project will construct a bridge and eliminate three grade crossings in a community bordered by railroad tracks on three sides and farmland on the remaining side. Known as the Iron Triangle neighborhood, access to and from the community depends upon one of the three existing highway rail grade crossings, posing serious safety risks and quality of life challenges. Every 26 minutes, a CSX train travels through Fostoria, Ohio. Even when trains run efficiently, rail traffic means active traffic control devices at crossings sound for at least two hours per day in the east side Iron Triangle neighborhood.  The new bridge will provide a safe and reliable route for residents, emergency responders, and others to travel between the neighborhood and surrounding communities.
  • Florida – Broward County Sealed Corridor Project ($15,440,000)
    Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization
    The project will increase safety at 21 grade crossings, along Florida’s East Coast Rail Corridor, a freight rail corridor shared with Brightline’s intercity passenger rail service. Along the corridor, 17% of collisions are the result of motorists driving around entrance gates, with nearly 60% of those instances occurring in Broward County. Safety improvements will deter such actions by constructing 33 new exit gates and 7 raised medians at crossings where at least 27 collisions have occurred over the last five years. Upgrades being funded by the Biden-Harris Administration, the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, and six local municipalities will increase safety at crossings where more than 60 trains per day are estimated to pass through by next year and benefit a County projected to grow by nearly 2.2 million by 2045.
  • Iowa – South Concord Street Grade Separation ($7,756,862)
    City of Davenport
    The project will eliminate one highway-rail crossing and build an overpass at another, preventing people and motorists from being stuck by slow moving or stopped trains in an area that has consistently reported blocked crossings ranging in wait times from 30 minutes to 2 hours. At crossings where trains pass at least 10 times daily, improvements will ensure safe and reliable access to the city’s Water Pollution Control Plant, a necessity serving approximately 140,000 residents in Davenport, Bettendorf, Panorama Park, and Riverdale. Importantly, for the workers at the water facility as well as the nearby compost facility and Nahant Rail Yard, first responders will have an unobstructed path to each location, ensuring timely emergency response when required. The overpass will be built to withstand 100-year or stage 23.6 floods in an area where transportation has come to a halt due to flooding of the nearby Mississippi River.
  • Washington – 32nd Street Underpass Project ($40,480,000)
    City of Washougal
    The proposed project will fund development, final design, right-of-way acquisition, and rail bridge construction to better reconnect the Addy Street neighborhood with the downtown and port areas. With the design of a new rail bridge and underpass, five key intersections will be reconstructed along 32nd Street, increasing safety and reducing the risk of vehicle-train collisions. Infrastructure improvements will help reduce freight rail bottlenecks and move goods more reliably and efficiently. The combination of rail overpass and roadway improvements will mean safer streets and increase the functionality, efficiency, and accessibility of the 32nd Street Corridor.

There are more than 130,000 miles of railroad track in the U.S. and improving safety in the communities where they run is a priority for the Department.

Over each of the next four years, additional RCE Program funding will be made available annually. Project selections for other grant programs that will improve freight rail safety and efficiency, strengthen supply chains, and expand the passenger rail network – representing billions of dollars in infrastructure law investments – will be announced in the coming months.

For the full list of Fiscal Year 2022 RCE Program project selections, please click here. Further information about the RCE Program can also be found here.

Transportation Department announces funding to improve dozens of train-car intersections

By Gregory Wallace, CNN          Published 5:00 AM EDT, Mon June 5, 2023

US federal officials are putting millions of dollars into fixing dangerous intersections where trains and cars meet.

The $570 million in infrastructure spending to replace, improve or study grade crossings will reduce the approximately 2,000 train-vehicle collisions that happen every year, the Biden administration said. The collisions kill about 200 people annually.

It will also reduce congestion at intersections where trains block traffic, the administration said. Nearly 26,000 blocking incidents have been reported to the federal Transportation Department in the last year, and more than 9,000 of those lasted for longer than one hour.

The Federal Railroad Administration said the funds will go toward 34 projects, including five in Texas, the state with the most grade crossing blockage complaints. A grade crossing refers to the area where a roadway intersects with or crosses a railroad track at the same level.

One of those projects, in Houston, will replace seven points where tracks and roads meet. Instead, the trains will have a protected route, and vehicle traffic will have four underpasses.

More than 850 blockages have been reported this year alone at those seven crossings, according to the Department of Transportation. The department said the project would save drivers fuel and frustration alike, and reduce noise where train operators blow loud horns as a warning to vehicles.

Amit Bose, the administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, said grade crossings and blockages, in particular, present “significant challenges” in many parts of the country, including Houston, where multiple rail lines meet.

“The reality is far too many communities deal with collisions at grade crossings,” Bose said. “They deal with blockages due to stopped or stalled trains and deal with the risk of first responders being delayed by those incidents.”

Feds to spend $570 million to fix railroad crossings, including two in Ohio

Published: Jun. 05, 2023, 5:30 a.m.

By Sabrina Eaton, cleveland.com

WASHINGTON, D. C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday awarded more than $570 million to 32 states for projects that will fix railroad crossings that block vehicle and pedestrian traffic, keep first-responders from reaching emergencies, and occasionally cause deadly accidents.

The Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be used to add grade separations, close at-grade crossings and improve existing at-grade crossings where train tracks and roads intersect, transportation department officials said.

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) chief Amit Bose called it “a first of its kind program that provides new tools to address a not-so-new problem.” He said there are more than 2,000 collisions at railroad crossings nationwide, with more than 200 casualties each year.

“The safest highway crossing is one that has an overpass or an underpass and doesn’t exist in the first place so that there’s no intersection of vehicles and trains,” said Bose.

Two Ohio projects will get more than $10 million from the new program.

Seneca County’s Fostoria will receive $7,245,000 to remove three crossings in its “Iron Triangle” neighborhood, which is bounded by railroad tracks on three sides and hemmed in by farmland on the fourth. The Ohio Rail Development Commission, CSX, and Norfolk Southern Railway will contribute a total of 31% in non-Federal matching funds.

“At times when trains are on these tracks and over these crossings, the community is completely cut off with no way to drive in route,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said of the Fostoria project. “We are building a bridge that will allow residents and first responders to travel safely and reliably around the area.”

The City of Fairfield in Butler County will get $3 million to improve crossings at Symmes Road and North Gilmore Road, which are part of CSX’s operations. Both crossings are angled in such a way that reduces visibility for drivers. They also average more than 40 trains per day. The Butler County Transportation Improvement District and City of Fairfield will contribute a 20% non-federal match.

“Given the scale of need and decades of underinvestment in America’s space, we won’t be able to reach every single crossing in the country or fix every issue,” Buttigieg continued. “But this is a big, big piece of good news and it represents a great start.”

Rail safety has been a priority in Ohio after a Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine spilled toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. Federal and state officials, fearing the vinyl chloride tanks would explode, set them afire, creating a massive plume of thick black smoke. Other chemicals seeped into local streams, killing fish and traveling down into the Ohio River.

Dozens of civil lawsuits were filed against Norfolk Southern in response to the derailment, including by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Yost said his suit could take years to resolve.

The Senate Commerce Committee last month approved bipartisan rail safety legislation from Ohio U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and JD Vance that’s intended to prevent future train disasters.

Brown said House Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has told him a floor vote on the legislation is “a priority for this month.” The U.S. House of Representatives is working on a separate rail safety bill that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, a Marietta Republican, along with U.S. Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes.

Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

Rail safety: Railroad crossings to get safety upgrades in Greater Cleveland, across Ohio

By Peter Krouse, cleveland.com

Published: Apr. 05, 2023, 3:52 p.m.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – More than 100 rail crossings in 15 Ohio counties, including Summit, Medina and Lorain, will be getting safety upgrades.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved $1.7 million in enhancements on Wednesday. Of that amount, $517,000 will go toward installing LED lights at grade crossings on the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway in Belmont, Huron, Jefferson, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties

The PUCO also approved $247,000 to install LED lights at grade crossings on the Cincinnati East Terminal Railway in Adams, Brown, Clermont and Hamilton counties.

In both instances, the PUCO is paying $7,500 per rail crossing with the railroads paying for any additional costs.

Also getting money is the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway. The PUCO will kick in $352,000 to install new flashing lights and gates at grade crossings at Diamond and Oakwood streets in Ravenna, which is in Portage County. The railroad will pay the balance of the $453,733 total cost.

The work is expected to be completed in a year. During construction, local governments can request up to $5,000 per project from PUCO’s State Grade Crossing Safety fund to add rumble strips, lighting, better signage or other enhancements to increase public safety.