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Last year, Union Pacific Railroad registered a reportable injury rate of 1.15, the best safety performance in the Class I's nearly 150-year history. Employees surpassed the previous best of rate 1.37 set in 2010 by 16.5 percent, UP officials said in a prepared statement.

From 2002 to 2011, the railroad improved its reportable injury rate by 52 percent. The rate reflects the total number of injuries reported to the Federal Railroad Administration per 200,000 worker hours, which is equivalent to 100 employees working a full year.

“Our Total Safety Culture initiative and identifying and standardizing best practices are important factors in our safety performance improvement," said Bob Grimaila, UP’s vice president of safety, security and environment.

UP also announced plans to spend $4 million to upgrade one of two lines that parallel Frio City Road in San Antonio. The project calls for installing a new automated system that will enable crews to move trains onto separate tracks without leaving locomotive cabs to manually align switches and adding a section of track.

To be completed by July, the work also includes the installation of 2,350 feet of rail, 1,000 ties, four switches and more than a thousand tons of ballast, and the renewal of two grade crossings. The project is part of UP’s $3.6 billion capital spending plan for 2012.