Jul 30, 2015 3 min read

Trains travel across more than 900 bridges and overpasses in Pennsylvania, often while carrying crude oil and volatile substances. Yet only one federal official oversees the inspection reports for railroad bridges across the commonwealth.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey wants to change that. He is calling for an additional $1 million in funding to hire seven additional train inspectors at the Federal Railroad Administration. Currently, eight inspectors oversee more than 70,000 railroad bridges across the country, one of whom is designated to Pennsylvania and other states in the region.

“You don’t have to be an expert in rail safety or engineering or otherwise to know that eight for 70,000 isn’t nearly enough,” Casey, D-Pa., said during a conference call with reporters Thursday.

Casey said his focus on transportation safety was prompted by the number of train derailments in recent years. An Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia in May killed eight people and injured more than 200. It was the deadliest train accident in the country in nearly six years. In February 2014, several thousand gallons of crude oil were spilled after a freight train derailed in Westmoreland County.

Casey acknowledged railroad companies are responsible for performing their own inspections, but he said more oversight at a federal level is crucial. The eight officials essentially audit the reports conducted by railroad companies.

“While many of these bridges are owned by rail carriers who are responsible for maintaining and inspecting the structures, the Federal Railroad Administration plays a critical oversight role in this process, ensuring structural integrity and safety by conducting thorough evaluations to certify that the owners of these bridges are inspecting them properly,” he wrote in a letter to the FRA.

Washington County has 39 railroad bridges, while Greene County has 19. Cecil Township, which has five railroad bridges, has had issues with oversized trucks crashing into a train overpass on Reissing Road. Repairs were made to the train trestle in March after a garbage truck collided with it and caused damage.

“Before, you used to see coal cars going by all the time,” township manager Don Gennuso said in March. “Now you’re seeing liquefied natural gas (being transported).”

Casey said that as a legislator, he has to work within the existing transportation framework. He said he doesn’t plan to join the debate over whether trains or pipelines are a better network for transporting oil.

“It’s enough of a battle and enough of a chore and challenge to enhance and to insist upon safety in both the pipelines and safety in the rails,” he said, adding “…. We just have to make both venues as safe as possible.”

Casey is also co-sponsoring the Hazardous Materials Rail Transportation Safety Improvement Act, which would provide a tax credit to companies that upgrade to “safer” train cars, while imposing a fee on companies that keep the older, more dangerous cars, he said.