FRA panel OKs waiver to allow automated track inspection

The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Railroad Safety Board has approved a new temporary waiver allowing U.S. railroads to expand field testing of automated track inspection (ATI) technology to collect data key to improving safety, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Dec. 5.

The FRA’s five-year waiver gives the rail industry the ability to demonstrate how ATI technology can assist safety inspectors by identifying defects or hazards that might otherwise be missed during routine visual inspections, Duffy said in a U.S. Department of Transportation press release. The ATI technology will complement visual track inspections.

The FRA’s Railroad Safety Board is made up of technical experts within the agency. The operations under the ATI waiver will be similar to previous ATI test programs conducted by freight and commuter railroads, with only minor changes to railroads’ nonautomated track inspection activities such as the addition of data collection and sharing requirements, which will enable the agency to better evaluate potential benefits and drawbacks, according to the press release.

The Association of American Railroads has long supported the waiver as a way to improve safety through the use of technology.