WASHINGTON — The five members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to address the lack of a safety inspector for the state in the wake of the April derailment of a BNSF freight train near the New Mexico-Arizona state line that closed Interstate 40 for more than two days.
The April 27 derailment involved 35 cars of a westbound BNSF train, including six carrying propane; four of those cars were breached and caught fire, leading to evacuation in a 2-mile radius of the accident scene and closure of I-40 from midday on April 27 until the afternoon of April 29 [see “NTSB releases preliminary report on April BNSF derailment …,” Trains News Wire, May 27, 2024].
The incident “highlighted the dire need for fully staffed railroad safety positions,” says a letter to FRA Administrator Amit Bose from U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, and U.S. Reps. Melanie Stansbury, Teresa Leger Fernández, and Gabe Vasquez, all Democrats. “As you know, New Mexico has not had an Operating Safety Inspector since February 2024. We call on you to expedite the hiring process to ensure the safey of our rail workers, and New Mexico communities.”
To that end, the legislators asked Bose a series of questions, including a request for an update of the status is of filling the inspector position, and on the process of monitoring safety matters while it is vacant.
The full letter is available on the KQRE-TV website.
It’s been a whole 3 months that the position has been open…the Senators and Representatives from New Mexico should be well aware that the Federal government does not hire employees that fast. If they managed to get onboard a new Inspector that has completed training and knows what to look for by the end of the year I’d be surprised.