New FRA and CSX Safety Compliance Agreement Announced

A 60% increase in track-caused accidents over five years on the 22,700-mile CSX system running through 23 states prompted the Federal Railroad Administration to initiate a two-week systemwide track audit on February 22, 2000.

The FRA first became concerned about track conditions on CSX in 1997 because reportable track-caused train accidents had increased to 86 from 54 in 1996. At that time, FRA undertook a comprehensive review of CSX tracks under the auspices of FRA's Safety Assurance and Compliance Program (SACP). As a result of that audit, CSX produced an action plan to improve track maintenance and inspection practices.

The FRA continued to carefully monitor track conditions on CSX and in 1998 saw signs of improvement - the ratio of track defects detected during FRA inspections on CSX declined 12.5%. However, the number of track caused accidents actually saw a slight increase.

Overall 1999 was the safest year in CSX history. For the first time in a decade, CSX had no employee fatalities. Fifty-one employee fatalities had occurred in the previous ten years. CSX also led all Class 1 railroads with a 16.4% reduction in grade crossing collisions in 1999.

Despite these safety achievements in 1999, the FRA was still concerned about the lack of improvement in track safety. While the rate of track-caused accidents declined in 1999, the decline was minimal and not to FRA's satisfaction (1.05 in 1998 compared to 1.04 in 1999).

So FRA intensified its surveillance of CSX track by increasing its inspection activity by 23%.

"The problem is almost to an emergency state," Randall Brassell, BMWE Vice Chairman told Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Chip Jones in April of this year. Conditions have deteriorated for years, Brassell said, but the problem was exacerbated by CSX's cost-cutting last year to cover the billions of dollars expense of buying part of Conrail. As a result, "the carrier is not putting enough money into maintenance or equipment" and in fact, recently cut 200 track maintenance workers.

"We believe we are putting dollars into the system," said CSX spokesman Robert L. Gould. The company spent $4 billion on capital improvements during the past four years, much of it for track maintenance, he said. "We're not in an emergency state. The railroad is safe. I ride it each day between Baltimore and Washington."

Of even more concern than the number of track defects was the nature of the track defects said George Gavalla, FRA associate administrator for safety. "When you look at the nature of the defects, these are conditions that should not exist on any major railroad," Gavalla told the Washington Post.

Gavalla's comments stemmed from the fact that the leading cause of track-caused derailments was wide gauge, which as maintenance of way workers know, is a condition in which the distance between the rails exceeds the allowable standards. "We will not tolerate wide gauge on any railroad," said Gavalla.

The second leading cause of track related derailments was found to be defective switch points and track hardware at turnouts. Both of these types of track-caused derailments are easily preventable.

Because these conditions were the leading causes of track related derailments, the FRA believed they indicated a lack of quality in CSX's track inspection and track maintenance practices and thus, initiated the audit on February 22.

Forty-four federal and state inspectors engaged in a two week system-wide track safety audit that covered approximately 15% of CSX's total track. In addition, nine listening sessions were conducted with CSX employees, labor leaders and supervisors from the track and bridge departments all across the CSX system.

The track audit revealed that while track conditions had improved on some CSX divisions, others showed only marginal improvement and some showed deterioration in track conditions. The findings confirmed FRA's belief in the need for improved quality control measures to focus on the nature of the track defects.

In a meeting on March 15 to discuss FRA's preliminary findings and concerns, John Snow, CSX Chairman, committed to Jolene Molitoris, FRA Administrator, that he would address FRA's track related concerns. At the same time a senior delegation from the FRA met with then-CSX President Ron Conway and senior engineering department officials to discuss FRA's findings in more detail. Conway called the conditions "unacceptable" and said, "whatever is necessary to do, we'll do."

As a result of these discussions, CSX agreed to enter into a compliance agreement with FRA to address the track quality control issues identified. A compliance agreement is a "legally binding document that commits the railroad to implement safety measures above and beyond what is required by regulations in order to facilitate compliance with those rules," said the FRA.

The CSX Compliance Agreement calls for a number of measures to be taken, including:

• Automated track inspections using CSX's three track geometry vehicles up to three times per year; ...
• Visual track inspections within 60 days; ...
• Performance standards for large scale track work; ...
• Enhanced management oversight; ...
• Capital improvement and maintenance programs for track for the years 2000 through 2004; ...
• Notice to affected employees by distributing a copy of the Compliance Agreement; ...
• Payment of penalties for unacceptable conditions; ...
• Violations of the agreement permit the FRA to issue an emergency order or compliance order and CSX will not contest the issuance of such an order.

At a roundtable with reporters held in Jacksonville, Florida on April 20, Molitoris and Snow announced the signing and execution of the CSX Safety Compliance Agreement which will remain in effect until May 1, 2001 unless FRA decides by January 31, 2001 that CSX has made sufficient progress.

The Journal of Commerce reported that Snow "expressed confidence that clear and decisive actions to correct track conditions and maintenance processes will convince the FRA to end its oversight before May 1 next year."

At the roundtable, after noting that BMWE has a vested interest in the long term viability of the railroad because its fate is intrinsically related to the fate of the railroad industry, BMWE President Mac A. Fleming assured CSX "that BMWE-represented employees possess the skills, dedication and know-how to bring this railroad back into compliance with FRA and industry standards ... and make it the safest and most efficient railroad in North America."

Fleming commended CSX "for stepping up to the plate and publicly acknowledging that problems do exist" and reminded CSX that "the highly skilled and dedicated employees at CSX are your most valuable asset in turning things around. Give us the manpower and the materials and we will get the job done," he promised.

Fleming urged CSX "to accelerate hiring in the maintenance of way department and decrease the use of outside contractors" whose commitment to the railroad does not come close to matching that of its own employees. He also urged CSX to replenish their depleted section forces to complement production crews, improve quality control, and most importantly, to maintain the integrity of the track structure between programmed renewal by highly mechanized production forces.

"High-tonnage Class 1 railroads the size of CSX cannot maintain their track infrastructure with roving production forces alone. It is essential that adequate section forces be in place to maintain track integrity and to facilitate inspection and repairs before conditions pose a safety risk or constitute a FRA violation."

"There is muted concern at FRA that deferred maintenance born of clipped expenditures could be on the increase. That's why the CSX track defects have triggered alarm bells," reported Frank Wilner in the April 10 issue of Traffic World.

"Major railroads went on a spending spree to acquire other railroads. CSX and Norfolk Southern paid more than $10 billion in borrowed cash for Conrail two years ago and absorbed another $10 billion in Conrail debt. Since the transaction was consummated, the stock prices of both CSX and NS have tumbled more than 55 percent. With bonuses of officials and even their job security tied to earnings and stock price, pressure to spend less now is intense," Wilner wrote.

"Every roadmaster and division superintendent on every railroad I speak to is sweating blood and some can't sleep at night worrying that they're not being allocated the materials and labor forces they need," said Rick Inclima, BMWE Director of Safety in the same article.

"FRA safety expert Ed English confirms CSX and other railroads have created large and heavily mechanized production gangs that can total 80 workers and roam 1,000 miles of track. They have replaced six- and 12-person section crews that previously had responsibility for track segments not exceeding 60 miles. Big production gangs can lay and realign track and replace crossties and not come back for a few years 'if you get a quality job when the gang goes through,' said English. 'If the job is not done right the first time - if little things are not done - there aren't the little gangs to bring back in' to check up on the big production gang that has moved on. The nature of the defects found on CSX main lines 'makes us nervous,' said English."

The FRA said CSX employed fewer maintenance workers per mile of track than other major systems in 1999. "They've reduced section forces so low it's like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the hole," said Inclima. "Not only has the number of section crews been reduced, the remaining crews have as few as two workers to repair problems. The absence of section crews hinders quality control behind the large production gangs, further affecting track quality.

Meanwhile, CSX has been regularly sub-contracting core maintenance of way of work to outside contractors, filing over 450 contracting notices with the BMWE between June 1 and December 31, 1999. After many meetings with CSX over this issue, it was clear to the BMWE that CSX was doing nothing to stop the "avalanche of sub-contracting" which was a unilateral change in the collective bargaining agreement.

A strike over this issue planned for March 10 was prevented by Florida District Court Judge Nimmons. At that time, Perry Geller, BMWE General Chairman, noted that CSX's "actions not only harm our members and their families but place the communities at risk. CSX's choice to utilize unqualified contractor forces instead of its highly skilled BMWE forces creates unsafe passage of trains, thereby increasing the risk to the public."

On February 15, 2000, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Darby, Pennsylvania Mayor Paula M. Brown had used her car and a police car to block the tracks in downtown Darby for more than 12 hours on February 13 until CSX agreed to provide more information about derailments in or bordering the city. Brown contended that CSX's documents indicated five derailments occurred in the first two weeks of February while a CSX spokesman said there were only three.

"At the site of the latest derailment," reported the Inquirer, "Brown said yesterday that railroad officials expressed greater concern for freight on those trains than for borough residents. 'These people were more concerned about some Tropicana orange juice getting to New York City than they were about the safety of these people,' Brown said. 'That is unacceptable.'

"Since CSX absorbed much of the Conrail system two years ago, residents' complaints have increased about malfunctioning grade crossing signals, standing trains that block traffic, and most recently, the safety of the trains. Missed deadlines, shipping delays, and delivery problems have plagued CSX's rail business since the Conrail deal," the Inquirer stated.

Since last Fall, citizens in Ohio have also registered numerous complaints of CSX blocking crossings - often for more than three hours. Local newspapers all over the state have reported that school children have crawled under standing trains at crossings in order to get to school.

Legislators in Ohio are investigating these complaints while discussing what action they can take and Ohio Governor Taft has publicly expressed his concern about the situation.