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A majority of U.S. rail workers believe freight and passenger railroads have insufficient safety and security measures in place, according to a Teamsters Rail Conference report released yesterday.

Entitled "High Alert: Workers Warn of Security Gaps on Nation’s Railroads," the report cites results of a survey of more than 4,000 Class I, regional, short line and passenger railroad employees.

Ninety-four percent of the respondents said rail yard access isn’t secure; 83 percent said they haven’t received any or additional terrorism prevention and response training during the past year; and 70 percent said they had seen trespassers in a yard.

"Our members told us that dangerous and possibly deadly situations are a daily occurrence on the rails," said conference Director John Murphy in a prepared statement. "The rail corporations and the Federal Railroad Administration must be held accountable for the appalling state of security on the rails and the lack of safety training our members receive."

To Association of American Railroads (AAR) officials, the report is more of a bargaining strategy than a take on safety.

"The nation’s railroads are engaged in a round of bargaining with their unions, including a coalition of seven unions led by the Teamsters [which] represents less than half of the industry’s unionized workforce," said AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger in a statement. "So, in an effort to improve their position at the bargaining table, the Teamsters have chosen to misrepresent the industry’s excellent safety record."

Since 1980, railroads’ train accident rate has declined 64 percent, collisions have dropped 80 percent, derailments have fallen 67 percent and the employee casualty rate has decreased 77 percent, according to AAR data.

"We are disappointed that the coalition has resorted to irresponsible and false characterizations of the nation’s railroads," said Hamberger. "The fact is that it is safer to work in the railroad industry than it is to work in a grocery store, the airline industry, the water transportation industry and the trucking industry.’