WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has introduced a bill to give the U.S. Department of Transportation greater oversight of the inspection of railroad bridges, including the ability to investigate claims made by communities that bridges are unsafe.
The Rail Bridge Safety and Transparency Act was introduced on Thursday, Aug. 1. U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) plans to introduce companion legislation in the House shortly. It would cover more than 100,000 rail bridges nationwide.
“The Commonwealth knows all too well how loose safety standards can cause train derailments and threaten communities,” Casey said in a press release. “This bill is another step to raise safety standards, hold big rail companies accountable, and protect communities from preventable tragedies.”
The full text of the bill was not released, but a summary from Casey’s office says it would require the U.S. DOT to “set broad, comprehensive standards for rail bridges and require railroads to inspect their bridges in line with these standards.” The DOT would also perform random inspections and compare its results with those reported by railroads; if a pattern of discrepancies between the DOT and railroad inspections develops, railroads could be fined.
The bill would also require the DOT to keep a database of bridge inspection reports, which would be available to communities on request, and would allow communities to report unsafe bridges. The DOT would investigate these claims and could shut down the bridges if needed.
