Safety

Did you know that an employee of a grocery store is more likely to be injured on the job than an employee of a railroad?  In fact, railroads today experience lower employee injury rates than most American industries—including agriculture, manufacturing, construction and other modes of transportation.

America’s railroads make safety—of employees, customers, and the communities they serve—their top priority.  Massive investments in new infrastructure and equipment, safety-enhancing technologies, and extensive employee training, ensures that railroads are at the forefront of advancing safety. 

Such attention to safety has produced an outstanding track record. In fact, 2010 was the safest year ever for U.S. passenger and freight railroads, with new record lows in each category of safety.  From 1980 to 2010, the train accident rate fell 77 percent, the rail employee injury rate fell 82 percent, and the grade crossing collision rate fell 81 percent.

To learn more about the industry's investment in rail safety technology, watch the video below.

Rail Tech

 Background Paper:  Railroads: Moving America Safely (PDF)

Key safety initiatives include:

Highway-Rail Grade Crossings
With approximately 140,000 public grade crossings in the United States, improving grade crossing safety is an enormous challenge that will take the combined efforts of railroads; state, local, and federal governments; public safety officials; and the public.  Click here for more on information on grade crossing safety.

Hazardous Materials Transportation
Railroads transport approximately 1.7 million carloads of hazardous materials each year, and more than 99.99 percent reach their destination without a release due to an accident.  Click here for more information on railroad hazmat safety.


Positive Train Control
Positive train control (PTC) describes technologies designed to automatically stop or slow a train before certain accidents occur. Railroad PTC systems must be in place and fully functional by the end of 2015.  Click here for more information on PTC.

Remote Control Locomotives
Remote control locomotive (RCL) technology allows rail personnel on the ground to operate locomotives through the use of a small control device that transmits signals to a microprocessor on board a locomotive.  RCL has the potential to reduce accidents in rail yards.

AAR Members’ Rail Safety Initiatives 
Click here  to find out more about how some of AAR’s member railroads are enhancing safety for their employees, their customers, and the communities they serve.

Transportation Technology Center
Freight railroads have dramatically improved safety and efficiency through the use of new technology, much of it developed and/or refined at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (www.aar.com) in Pueblo, Colorado, a subsidiary of the AAR.

  AAR Background Paper:  High-Tech Advances Improve Safety & Efficiency  (PDF)

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulates railroad safety.  Click here for the FRA’s Web site.