SYRACUSE - CSX will spend $48.5 million to improve its rail system in upstate New York, where it has been plagued by a series of mishaps and derailments, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday.
The Florida-based company agreed to the investment after Schumer met last week with CSX Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward in Washington, D.C.
The money includes $30 million to replace old, deteriorating track with new rails. CSX owns approximately 2,250 miles of track in New York.
It also includes $14.2 million to replace over 238,000 old crossties, and $1.8 million to smooth out the surfacing of the track, the senator said.
CSX will spend an additional $2.5 million to weld rail joints across the state.
In addition to the capital investment, Schumer said CSX also committed to several advanced engineering projects for New York and other parts of the CSX rail network, including rail defect detection trucks, high speed rail testing, and other systems designed to prevent accidents and derailments by collecting data and monitoring the tracks.
“It's about time. We pushed them hard but we've gotten the results we wanted,” Schumer said in a teleconference.
“New Yorkers in all regions are all too familiar with CSX's safety record. We've had a lot of serious problems but that's now been met by a serious commitment,” Schumer said.
“CSX appreciates that Senator Schumer has recognized and endorsed the company's comprehensive rail safety program for New York. CSX's continuing emphasis on maintenance, training and technology have made its safety record the most improved in the rail industry,” the company said in a statement.
The company's most recent accident in upstate New York was last month, when 13 cars derailed in Canastota, about 20 miles east of Syracuse.
The scene was just a few miles from where a CSX train derailed in March, triggering the explosion of four liquid propane tankers.
No one was injured in that incident, but hundreds of local residents were evacuated, the New York Thruway was temporarily shut down and Amtrak passenger service was interrupted. Damage was estimated at $2.08 million.
In January 2007, 13 cars on a CSX train left the tracks in the village of East Rochester. No one was injured, but at least two motorists were nearly hit by falling trailers that were dislodged from their train cars.
That same month, 20,000 gallons of methanol caught fire at the CSX rail yard in Selkirk.
In December 2006, a CSX train carrying cans of mixed vegetables derailed on an overpass in Cheektowaga, leaving one boxcar teetering on the edge of a railroad bridge and sending a second onto the road below.
In response to the spate of accidents in New York and elsewhere, the Federal Railroad Administration initiated an investigation of CSX in January 2007. The FRA probe found 3,518 safety defects, including 199 serious violations, in CSX's 23-state rail operations.
The railroad paid nearly $350,000 in fines for federal rail safety violations stemming from the investigation, the FRA announced last month.
The money includes $30 million to replace old, deteriorating track with new rails. CSX owns approximately 2,250 miles of track in New York.
It also includes $14.2 million to replace over 238,000 old crossties, and $1.8 million to smooth out the surfacing of the track, the senator said.
CSX will spend an additional $2.5 million to weld rail joints across the state.
In addition to the capital investment, Schumer said CSX also committed to several advanced engineering projects for New York and other parts of the CSX rail network, including rail defect detection trucks, high speed rail testing, and other systems designed to prevent accidents and derailments by collecting data and monitoring the tracks.
“It's about time. We pushed them hard but we've gotten the results we wanted,” Schumer said in a teleconference.
“New Yorkers in all regions are all too familiar with CSX's safety record. We've had a lot of serious problems but that's now been met by a serious commitment,” Schumer said.
“CSX appreciates that Senator Schumer has recognized and endorsed the company's comprehensive rail safety program for New York. CSX's continuing emphasis on maintenance, training and technology have made its safety record the most improved in the rail industry,” the company said in a statement.
The company's most recent accident in upstate New York was last month, when 13 cars derailed in Canastota, about 20 miles east of Syracuse.
The scene was just a few miles from where a CSX train derailed in March, triggering the explosion of four liquid propane tankers.
No one was injured in that incident, but hundreds of local residents were evacuated, the New York Thruway was temporarily shut down and Amtrak passenger service was interrupted. Damage was estimated at $2.08 million.
In January 2007, 13 cars on a CSX train left the tracks in the village of East Rochester. No one was injured, but at least two motorists were nearly hit by falling trailers that were dislodged from their train cars.
That same month, 20,000 gallons of methanol caught fire at the CSX rail yard in Selkirk.
In December 2006, a CSX train carrying cans of mixed vegetables derailed on an overpass in Cheektowaga, leaving one boxcar teetering on the edge of a railroad bridge and sending a second onto the road below.
In response to the spate of accidents in New York and elsewhere, the Federal Railroad Administration initiated an investigation of CSX in January 2007. The FRA probe found 3,518 safety defects, including 199 serious violations, in CSX's 23-state rail operations.
The railroad paid nearly $350,000 in fines for federal rail safety violations stemming from the investigation, the FRA announced last month.
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