Missouri budgets $50M for railroad crossings in response to fatal 2022 Amtrak derailment
Missouri plans to spend $50 million on railroad crossing improvements in response to a 2022 fatal Amtrak derailment
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and state transportation officials on Thursday outlined options for spending the first chunk of $50 million budgeted for railroad crossing improvements in an effort to prevent tragedies like last year’s fatal Amtrak derailment.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that poor design contributed to the derailment in the north-central Missouri town of Mendon, which killed four people and injured 146 others.
Recommendations from a $750,000 study unveiled Thursday suggest changes at 47 public rail crossings on three tracks that carry passenger trains throughout Missouri for a total cost of about $18.5 million. Total closure is recommended at 17 crossings, including the Mendon site where the crash occurred.
The rest of the $50 million is planned for improvements at freight train crossings.
The 27 crossings slated for improvements do not have lights, barriers or other alerts to warn drivers when a train is approaching. There are more than 1,400 such crossings throughout Missouri, according to the state Transportation Department.
Spokeswoman Linda Horn said the cost for fixing all passive crossings is estimated at $700 million.
The Mendon crossing, which was shuttered immediately after last year's crash, also had no lights or signals to warn that a train was approaching.
Before the crash, area residents had expressed concerns for nearly three years about the safety of the crossing because of the lack of visibility.
“Just setting eyes on it, you realize how dangerous it was,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
The state Transportation Department
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