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The additional funds are expected to be approved this week in Congress, according to Blumenthal and Schumer, the main sponsors of the legislation. This comes a month after a Metro-North train derailed in the Bronx, killing four people and injuring dozens and leading to the resignation of Metro-North President Howard Permut.
The Federal Railway Administration will use the funds in part to hire 45 railroad inspectors. The additional money is part of the administration's $185 million total budget that is part of $1.1 trillion proposed federal budget unveiled Monday.
The agency is "woefully underfunded" and has the resources to inspect only 1 percent of the nation's rails, Blumenthal said.
“This is a vitally important increase in urgently needed inspectors, who will make railroad travel safer now and in the future,” the senators said in a joint statement.
The Federal Railway Administration does not seek to inspect 100 percent of the nation’s rails each year – a task that is shared by states and the railroads – but additional funding would allow them to dramatically increase the percentage and spot safety checks, the senators said.
“These funds are a solid step toward fixing persistent, prevalent rail safety flaws,” Blumenthal said in the statement. “More inspectors on the ground will enable detection of track defects and other deficiencies to deter and prevent future tragedies like Spuyten Duyvil and Bridgeport costing lives and dollars."
The legislation also required that the results of the Federal Railway Administration's vigorous investigation into Metro-North's passenger train procedures -- called "Operation Deep Dive" -- along with the recommended action plan and timeline for completed action items be delivered to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations by March 17.
The Federal Transit Administration is expected to determine whether safety investments in Metro-North's system were appropriately prioritized.
Without the proper resources, inspections and certifications of new safety technologies would have been unacceptably delayed, Schumer and Blumenthal said.
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