Documents Reveal Lack Of Transparency Surrounding Railroad Bridge Safety

Newly documents suggest a lack of transparency on a number of different fronts when it comes to the safety of railroad bridges.

According to the documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Federal Railroad Administration — an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation — has little information on hand regarding bridge inspections.

Such inspections are conducted by the railroad companies that own the infrastructure. The FRA does not have copies of those reports and is not required to review them.

The documents show that FRA staff followed up a railroad company’s inspection with an inspection of its own once in the last five years along the Mississippi River.

Guy Wolf is a member of Citizens Acting for Rail Safety, a group that sounded the alarm on BNSF rail bridges along the Mississippi River this fall.

“The federal inspection reports are a part of American democracy. We call it a right to know,” Wolf said. “The right for citizens, legislative positions, etc. (to) know what’s happening on our nation’s infrastructure.”

La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat said the city has also received little information from the railroads, and that he wishes local governments had more of a say when it comes to rail issues.

“It does become a challenge because it is private industry,” Kabat said. “Us locals really do rely on the federal government to have that oversight and the review and making sure things are safe.”

A BNSF spokeswoman says bridges are inspected annually and the company is making record infrastructure investments. She said the inspection reports are not made public for security and other reasons. She said it’s in the company’s best interest to maintain a safe rail system.