Authored by Betsy Cantwell, GoRail President
As technology has evolved, railroads have leveraged advances to improve track inspection and safety practices, with clear success. For example, in late 2025, a newly installed railcar wheel — just four days in service — was flagged by an advanced inspection system for a hidden crack. The defect would have been nearly impossible to detect using traditional methods. Instead, it was caught early, and an industry-wide alert helped identify seven additional compromised wheels that were immediately removed from service.
This success story reflects a broader reality: freight rail safety is innovating and improving — and the latest Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) data shows progress. For city leaders, these trends matter. Rail lines run through our communities, support local economies and intersect with roads, emergency services and infrastructure planning. Here are three takeaways from the latest FRA data, released in March 2025:
1. Rail Safety Is Improving — And Not Just Marginally
The overall train accident rate declined 14 percent year over year, with several categories — including derailments, employee injury rates and track-caused incidents — reaching historic lows. Human factor-related incidents also declined nearly 20 percent year over year.
These outcomes build on long-term rail safety progress. Since 2005:
- Overall train accident rates have fallen 40 percent
- Derailments are down 46 percent
- Track-caused accidents have dropped 53 percent
2. Technology Is Driving Measurable Safety Gains
The improvements in rail safety are not accidental — they are the result of a highly skilled workforce and key investments that are improving rail operations through new tools.
Advanced systems such as automated track inspection, detectors and real-time monitoring are helping railroad workers identify issues before they become incidents. Positive Train Control (PTC), which has been fully deployed across 57,536 required route miles since 2000, is specifically designed to prevent certain types of serious accidents.
As the wheel story demonstrates, these tools are proactive — reducing risk in advance of a problem rather than reacting after the fact.
3. Safer Rail Helps Cities Manage Congestion — But Partnerships Remain Key at Crossings
Freight rail boosts local economies, delivering connectivity without straining municipal budgets. More freight moving by rail can mean fewer trucks on highways and city streets, less congestion and reduced wear on local infrastructure.
At the same time, grade crossing incidents remain a key area where progress can be better, with incidents largely flat year over year in 2025 and only modest long-term improvement. Because crossings are shared spaces between roadways and rail lines, improving safety requires coordination between railroads, local governments and state rail offices.
Federal programs like the Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) program and Section 130 grants to state rail offices play an important role in helping communities address these risks — supporting projects that separate road and rail traffic, upgrade signals and signage and target high-risk crossings. Continued investment in these programs will be critical to sustaining safety gains at the local level.
The Bottom Line for City Leaders
The nationwide freight rail network is not a static system. It is becoming safer, more technologically advanced and more efficient over time. For cities, that progress translates into fewer safety incidents and a more effective partner in supporting economic growth.
As local leaders evaluate infrastructure priorities and community safety, the latest data offers a clear takeaway: safer railroads ensure safer cities.
Visit the NLC Strategic Partnerships page to learn more about the organizations like GoRail dedicated to making NLC the premier resource for local governments.
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