Last year, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had a 25 percent year-over-year increase in rail safety fines, according to the agency’s FY 2025 Annual Enforcement Report.
When including all railroads and other entities, such as hazmat shippers, the FRA conducted 70,646 inspections to assess compliance with safety regulations and laws, and found 269,141 defects. The agency defines defects as actions or conditions that an inspector determines to be non-compliant with federal laws, regulations or FRA orders. A defect can be considered a warning for an instance of non-compliance.
As a result, the FRA issued more than $21 million in civil penalties, approximately $3.2 million were for violations related to hazardous materials transportation laws and approximately $18
million were for violations of rail safety laws. The agency closed approximately 3,900 cases.
The FRA contributes the increase to a deployment of more safety inspectors, enhanced regulations and innovation that together made rail travel safer and supply lines are more reliable.
“FRA safety inspectors are on the front line in the fight to keep our nation’s railroads safe and
this report is proof positive that they are succeeding,” FRA Administrator David Fink said.
When only including railroads, there were 61,705 inspections and 249,423 defects.