IN TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE HEARING, CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN PUSHES TO RENEW CRITICAL SAFETY PROGRAM, PREVENT HUDSON VALLEY RAIL CROSSING DEATHS
In Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Hearing, Congressman Pat Ryan Pushes to Renew Critical Safety Program, Prevent Hudson Valley Rail Crossing Deaths
There are more than 100 rail crossings in NY-18, several of which desperately need safety improvements like traffic signal upgrades to prevent congestion backups, roadway redesigns, and increased and enhanced warning systems
In 2023, following a fatal incident where a train struck and killed a pedestrian, the city of Port Jervis received a grant to make safety improvements; without Congressional action, the funding for the grant program – the Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Program – will expire next year
WASHINGTON, DC – With devastating deaths at rail crossings across the Hudson Valley and the potential for critical programs to expire, Congressman Pat Ryan upped the urgency for Congress to renew the Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Program.
There are more than 100 rail crossings in NY-18, many of which desperately need safety improvements like traffic signal upgrades to prevent congestion backups, roadway redesigns, and increased and enhanced warning systems. In 2023, following a fatal crash where a commuter train struck and killed a pedestrian in Port Jervis, the city was awarded grant money for safety improvements at the rail crossing. If no action is taken, that funding will expire next year. At a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, Ryan upped the urgency to renew the funding in the Committee’s upcoming reauthorization bill. Ryan’s full remarks are linked here.
“We have thousands of miles of freight and passenger rail in the Hudson Valley, and more than a hundred railroad crossings in NY-18 alone. Way too many of those crossings are in desperate need of safety upgrades. Several are completely ungated, lack warning lights, and have led to numerous fatal, avoidable crashes over the years,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “We cannot allow these tragic accidents to continue – that’s why I’m pushing to not only renew the program, but get more funding to communities across the region, just like we did for Port Jervis. I’m going to keep fighting with all I’ve got for this program that saves lives across the Hudson Valley and entire country.”
A member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congressman Ryan has fought for rail safety programs throughout his time in Congress. In 2023, following the tragic CSX train derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, Congressman Ryan called on the company to take immediate action to avoid a similar disaster in the Hudson Valley. CSX trains, often carrying toxic materials, have derailed repeatedly in the past few years, posing immediate risk to American lives and threatening catastrophic environmental damage; in 2017, a CSX train derailed in Newburgh and spilled 4,600 tons of diesel fuel.
This is in addition to an unreasonably high number of accidents involving pedestrians and passenger vehicles. In 2017, a Saugerties woman was killed when her taxi driver missed a stop sign and unknowingly drove into the path of an oncoming train. In 2023, an Ulster man died after he was hit by a CSX train. In Kingston, about 35 trains run through the heart of the densely populated heart of the city daily. In 2015 and 2016, three young people were struck and killed by trains in Kingston in a matter of months. In 2018, a pedestrian died after being struck by a CSX train in Kingston, in 2021, an Ulster County man was killed after his vehicle was struck by a train in Midtown Kingston, and in 2023, another was nearly killed after being struck.
The grant awarded to Port Jervis – the Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Program – was authorized as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program provides funding for highway-rail or pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects that focus on improving the safety and mobility of people and goods. In this year’s upcoming Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill, the program’s funding must be renewed or it will expire.
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