Our Aging Railway System

Unfortunately, train derailments are becoming fairly common occurrences.

Recently, outside of Philadelphia, a passenger train derailed leaving six people dead and another 140 injured.

Although officials have not finished their investigation into the crash, early reports indicate that the most likely cause

was either a broken rail or a loose weld.

These are the two most common causes of train derailments and account for more than 15 percent of all

train derailments according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

In the last ten years there have been over 100,000 reported railroad incidents and accidents across the U.

S railway system and this number is expected to grow due to the aging tracks, crossings and bridges that these trains

use on a daily basis.

All of this is occurring at the same time that ridership of trains is steadily increasing.

In 2014, Amtrak reported record ticket revenues and record ridership across its system.

More riders on an aging system is a recipe for continued disasters to occur, so what is being done about it.

The Federal Government Must Play A Large Role In Improving Our Aging Railway System

The federal government has long played a critical part in funding our railway system as part of its overall

transportation program.

Recently, however, the transportation House Appropriations Committee voted to institute funding cuts

for Amtrak to the tune of $300 million dollars.

The members of the house committee see this as a type of tough love towards Amtrak, which they hope will force

Amtrak to innovate and begin to take more financial responsibility for the rail system that they use to transport

their paying customers.

Our Aging Railway System Gets A Grade

In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U. S rail system a grade of "C plus" on its national

infrastructure report card.

This they noted is actually an improvement over past

grades as the U.S.

government and the railroads combined have put considerable resources in recent years into improving

railroad tunnels, tracks and bridges.

Since 2009 both freight and passenger railroad companies themselves have invested more than $75 billion dollars into

these types of infrastructure improvements.

The American Public Transportation Association, after studying the issue of our aging railway system, has

recommended that the federal government spend $50 billion dollars over the next six years in order to do their

part in improving our U.S.

railway system, in order to make it as safe and reliable as possible for both freight and

passenger traffic.

Most of goods that we consume spend some time moving via rail and more people are using rail than ever before for

their own personal transportation.

Making sure that our aging railway system is up to the task must be a priority and will require the continued efforts of

the federal government and the railway companies themselves in order to succeed.