News Release

BNSF Closes Record Number of Grade Crossings in 2000

FORT WORTH, Texas, January 29, 2001:

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. (BNSF) announced that it has closed or contracted to close 635 highway-rail grade crossings in 2000, as part of its ongoing highway-rail grade crossing safety initiative. The closure of 635 highway-rail grade crossings in a single year is a BNSF record and is believed to be a record for the railroad industry.

Representative Jim Oberstar (D.-Minn.) said, “BNSF deserves high marks for its industry leadership in highway-rail grade crossing safety and for reducing its rate of grade crossing collisions by nearly 40 percent over the past five years. BNSF has made a sustained effort to address grade crossing safety through community education and awareness, enhanced crossing safety technology, installation of warning devices, track and signal inspection and maintenance, and in closing 635 grade crossings last year. This company has set an enviable safety standard for the entire rail industry.”

BNSF has the lowest highway-railroad grade crossing collision rate among Class I railroads in the U.S. rail industry, according to Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) statistics. Since 1995, BNSF’s rate of grade crossing collisions has declined by 39 percent – from 5.41 per million train miles in 1995 to a rate of 3.32 in 2000.

Carl Ice, BNSF’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, explains, “One of the best ways to minimize the risk is to reduce the number of at-grade crossings. Our grade crossing safety and public project employees work closely with state agencies, communities and landowners to ensure we identify the best candidates for closure.” The 2000 achievement of 635 crossings closed or contracted to close represents a threefold increase over BNSF’s 1999 figure. A similarly ambitious goal has been set for 2001.

“As we look for closure candidates, we want to ensure that communities and landowners have effective routes to cross the tracks, while we also reduce potential exposure to risk,” explains Lyn Hartley, BNSF’s director, field engineering and design. “In the coming years, BNSF employees will continue to work with the state agencies, communities and landowners along our line to find ways to enhance safety. Our grade crossing closure program is part of that effort.”

Adds Jack Wells, acting administrator of the FRA, “BNSF’s closing of 635 crossings in 2000 is a major achievement, for which they should be congratulated. We look forward to continuing this progress with BNSF and other railroads in the years to come.”

BNSF operates one of the largest rail networks in North America, with 33,500 route miles of track covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000