More crude oil and ethanol a concern in Iowa

WASHINGTON - Recent deadly railroad-crossing crashes have sparked interest among lawmakers and regulators to improve safety conditions at the danger point - where highways and rail lines intersect.

Since the beginning of February, seven people have died and scores more have been injured in crashes between commuter trains and motor vehicles.

While the number of injuries and fatalities in railroad crossing accidents has fallen by half in the past two decades, 250 people still died and 929 were injured in 2,087 collisions in 2013, the most recent year of complete federal government statistics.

'The reality is that while the overall number of deaths and injuries from grade crossing incidents has come down significantly over the last two decades, this remains a serious problem,” Sarah Feinberg, acting chief of the Federal Railroad Administration, said in a statement.

A Feb. 3 collision in Valhalla, N.Y., killed the driver of an SUV and five passengers on a Metro-North train. On Feb. 24, a Metrolink commuter train struck a pickup in Oxnard, Calif. The train's engineer died of his injuries Tuesday.

Safety is particularly important in Iowa where only 1,011 of the 4,332 public crossing have crossing gates and less than half have gates or warning lights, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

Meanwhile, shipments of flammable crude oil and ethanol have increased to 39,000 rail carloads, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation rail office.

In February, a Canadian Pacific freight train carrying ethanol derailed along the Mississippi River north of Dubuque and three tank cars erupted in flames. And just this past Thursday, across the river in Illinois, five tankers on a BNSF train carrying crude oil exploded after a derailment.

No one was injured in either incident.

ACTION PLAN

'With at grade crossing we are putting emphasis on the routes that carry ethanol or crude oil,” said Tammy Nicholson, director of the Iowa Department of Transportation Office of Rail Transportation. 'Unfortunately, with the funding we have, we have still not been able to improve all the crossings with crude or ethanol passing through.”

In 2008, Iowa was ranked among the top 10 states for rail crashes, prompting Iowa to put a safety grade crossing action plan in place. The number of crashes at highways has decreased from 72 incidents in 2008 to 51 in 2014, but fatalities increased from five to seven during that time frame, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

Iowa has upped investment in rail safety projects in recent years, about $5.7 million for 31 projects budgeted for fiscal 2016, up from $4.5 million and 26 million in fiscal 2014.

But, the crossing upgrades cost about $200,000 a piece, and Iowa has 2,507 so called 'passive crossings” with little notice, Nicholson said.

In other states, lawmakers have introduced bills to increase the level of federal funding for railroad crossing improvements and reroutings, which has remained flat for a decade. The U.S. DOT and volunteer organizations are stepping up their efforts to increase law enforcement and public awareness of railroad crossing safety.

'Recent accidents in New York and California are important reminders of our shared challenge to both educate the public about grade crossing safety, and to enforce appropriate behavior around railroad operations,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement.

FUNDS FOR STATES

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives approved a passenger-rail authorization bill that includes $300 million for local governments to initiate railroad crossing improvements and relocations.

Last month, Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced legislation to pump up a federal program that provides funds to states to make the crossings safer, which can mean adding warning devices or closing them altogether.

Since 2006, states have received about $220 million a year under the program. The Senate bill would provide another $200 million over four years.

The federal government typically pays 90 percent of the cost of railroad-crossing safety improvements.

California, Texas and Illinois account for the most railroad crossing crashes and fatalities, and have received the most funding.