The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) recently gave 394 railroads a 2024 Jake Safety Award.
The award honors ASLRRA member railroad that have a better than the average reportable injury frequency rate per 200,000 person-hours worked for railroads other than Class Is, transit, commuter railroads and Amtrak. The reports are via railroad injury and illness summary forms submitted monthly to the Federal Railroad Administration. To win a 2024 award, railroads were required to have an injury frequency rate lower than the industry average of 2.31.
Of the winners, 357 were honored “with distinction” for zero reportable injuries. Nineteen railroads had the lowest injury frequency rate in a variety of regions and person-hours worked categories and received the President’s Safety Award.
“For short line railroads, there is nothing more important than operating safely,” Chuck Baker, ASLRRA president said. “The Jake Award program is an industry bellwether of performance against that goal each year. It is particularly notable that the average industry injury frequency rate, based on FRA-reported performance in 2024, has dropped, making it more difficult to achieve a Jake Award. Yet, 394 of our member railroads have notched a frequency lower than industry average, and of these a record breaking 357 railroads reported zero injuries.”