FRA train accident investigation reports go online

To increase public awareness about the causes of specific train accidents and to reduce the need for individuals to submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is for the first time making its investigation reports of major train accidents and other incidents available online, FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman stated.

“There’s no reason that anyone who’s interested shouldn’t be able to find out the probable cause of a train accident,” said Boardman, explaining that formal FRA accident investigation reports generally focus on high-consequence train-to-train collisions, derailments, certain highway-rail grade crossing collisions, and all railroad employee fatalities.

Boardman said that the Factual Investigation Reports now posted on the FRA web site contain detailed narratives describing the circumstances of the accident or incident and provide an analysis of the facts and FRA’s conclusion as to why the event occurred. Making this information more accessible will benefit railroads, railroad employees, state and local officials, communities, shippers, insurers and others directly or indirectly impacted by these events, he added.

FRA accident investigation reports for all of 2005 and 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 are online now. The reports for the remainder of 2007 will be posted in the coming months, and those for 2008 as well as all future reports will be made available online as they are completed and finalized, Boardman said. A major train accident or incident investigation typically takes six to nine months to complete, and no portions of reports are made public until an investigation is finalized. An up-to-date listing of all active, open and ongoing investigations will also be posted online.

EC authorises Slovakia to grant fiscal aid to railway and inland waterways transport

The European Commission has decided not to raise any objections to the excise duty reductions and exemptions introduced by Slovakia for the benefit of railway and inland waterways transport. These measures are aimed at reducing external costs in the transport sector.

Since 1st May 2004 Slovakia applies excise duty exemption with respect to fuel used in inland navigation and excise duty reduction with respect to fuel used in railway transportation. The measures are in line with the provisions of the Energy taxation directive. The period covered by the State aid scheme is 10 years.

As railway and inland waterway transport do not allow for direct door-to-door delivery, they are exposed to a number of additional expenses, among which transhipment costs play the main role. At the same time, rail and inland waterway transport have much lower external costs in terms of accident, climate change and air pollution and their use is therefore beneficial for the society. Both transport modes also have considerable spare capacity and can therefore play a role in diverting traffic away from the congested parts of the road networks.

It is appropriate to bring down the cost of use of combined transport operations in order to put cleaner transport modes on equal footing with the road transport said EC. The Slovak Republic opted for excise duty exemptions and reductions to reduce the difference in costs faced by different transport modes.

These fiscal measures applicable to inland navigation and railway transportation are compatible with the European State aid rules[1].