Sens. Murray and Collins: More safety resources for short-line railroads

Washington – Two senators from the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee are urging the Department of Transportation to increase the safety resources it provides to short-line railroads – many of which feed shipments of volatile crude oil and other hazardous materials to larger railroads.

In a letter to Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) stated that short-line railroads receive fewer federal resources – including funding for emergency response training – than larger railroads that make up the majority of the U.S. freight network.

The senators requested that DOT support the creation of a Short Line Railroad Safety Institute, which has received support and interest from the Federal Railroad Administration and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. The institute would provide resources to short-line railroads on incident prevention and emergency response.