States Risk Losing Billions in Funding for Trains if They Don't Act on Safety

California may not receive $1.4 billion in federal train money if it cannot prove it has undertaken the necessary programs to promote train safety in the state. "The Federal Transit Administration took the unusual step Monday of issuing a public warning to California and several dozen other states of a looming deadline for those states to prove they have complete programs to oversee and promote rail safety," Tony Bizjak reports.

California and New York receive the most transit funding from FTA and losing this money would have a big effect on the state's budget. "States are required to create a system safety program standard for local rail agencies to follow, and to do safety inspections of rail programs every three years, as well as investigate crashes and hazardous conditions, and oversee corrective action when incidents occur," Bizjak writes.