Our Aging Railway System

1
Our Aging Railway System
2
Unfortunately, train derailments are becoming
fairly common occurrences.
3
Recently, outside of Philadelphia, a passenger
train derailed leaving six people dead and
another 140 injured.
4
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.
5
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.
6
In the last ten years there have been over
100,000 reported railroad incidents and accidents
across the U.
7
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.
8
All of this is occurring at the same time that
ridership of trains is steadily increasing.
9
In 2014, Amtrak reported record ticket revenues
and record ridership across its system.
10
More riders on an aging system is a recipe for
continued disasters to occur, so what is being
done about it.
11
The Federal Government Must Play A Large Role In
Improving Our Aging Railway System
12
The federal government has long played a critical
part in funding our railway system as part of its
overall transportation program.
13
Recently, however, the transportation House
Appropriations Committee voted to institute
funding cuts for Amtrak to the tune of 300
million dollars.
14
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.
15
Our Aging Railway System Gets A Grade
16
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.
17
This they noted is actually an improvement over
past grades as the U.S.
18
government and the railroads combined have put
considerable resources in recent years into
improving railroad tunnels, tracks and bridges.
19
Since 2009 both freight and passenger railroad
companies themselves have invested more than 75
billion dollars into these types of
infrastructure improvements.
20
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.
21
railway system, in order to make it as safe and
reliable as possible for both freight and
passenger traffic.
22
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.
23
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.