When Congress passed the Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2008, the new law mandated safety improvements in the rail industry long sought by the NTSB. The legislation also contained a provision requiring the Board to provide family assistance following rail passenger disasters, much like it has provided in aviation.
The Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act became law in October 2008 and applies to any rail passenger disaster resulting in major loss of life occurring on Amtrak and any future interstate or intrastate high-speed passenger rail. “This legislation in many ways mirrors the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 in that it provides for coordinated, consistent information and effective delivery of services to address the needs of family members of rail accident victims,” said Paul Sledzik, Director of NTSB's Transportation Disaster Assistance (TDA) Division.
As a result of the legislation, a Rail Task Force was formed comprising family members of passenger rail disasters, the Federal Railroad Administration, the NTSB, the Department of State, the FBI’s Office for Victim Assistance, Amtrak, the United Transportation Union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the National Association of Railroad Passengers, and the American Red Cross. The Task Force created a model plan for family assistance responses for the passenger rail industry that will provide guidance to rail passenger carriers, federal agencies, and organizations having responsibility under the legislation. This guidance details the responsibilities of the federal agencies, the Red Cross, and rail carriers in providing assistance to families.
The Task Force completed it's charter during the summer of 2010 and TDA is coordinating with Amtrak to begin training and outreach regarding family assistance operations. TDA also plans to begin outreach to the high speed rail passenger operators in 2011. “It is critical for NTSB to work with the high speed rail operators as they begin to formulate their business plans” Sledzik said.
Although not mandated, the Safety Board has provided family assistance to victims’ families at nearly a dozen rail passenger and freight accidents since 1998.
You can read the Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act for more information.