Rail Safety and Regulation

The Federal Railroad Administration on Friday approved a waiver allowing U.S. freight railroads to reduce manual track inspections to as little as once per week when they employ automated track-geometry inspection systems, rejecting industry requests to cut human checks to twice monthly and to allow three days to repair defects. FRA’s decision requires immediate repairs of serious defects and fixes for all defects within 24 hours, as unions warn safety risks could rise and railroads cite BNSF and Norfolk Southern pilots showing improved safety under reduced manual inspections.