WASHINGTON – September 20, 2019 – Columbia & Cowlitz Railway was honored with the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s (ASLRRA) prestigious President’s Award, in recognition of their outstanding safety achievements in 2018. The award was presented at the 2019 ASLRRA Central-Pacific Region Meeting, held in San Antonio, Texas, September 11 – 13, 2019.
“The recipients of our President’s Award lead our industry in safety, striving each and every day to value safety above all competing priorities,” said Chuck Baker, President of ASLRRA. “Their impressive performance, with either zero reportable accidents, or the best safety rate below the industry average per man-hour of operations has led the way to record levels of safety performance for the short line industry.”
The safety performance of short line railroads has contributed to the 36% decrease in train accidents per million miles since 2000 as reported by the Federal Railroad Administration.
The Pacific Region President’s Award recipients are:
Most Hours of Injury-Free Operation – Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad
Best Safety Rate, 250-500,000 man-hours – Portland & Western Railroad
Best Safety Rate, 50-150,000 man-hours – Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad
Best Safety Rate, less than 50,000 man-hours – Columbia & Cowlitz Railway Company
To qualify for a President’s Award, railroad companies must also be a Jake Award Recipient. To be honored with a Jake Award an ASLRRA member railroad must perform better than the Class II and III industry average injury frequency rate as reported by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) during the prior year. In 2019, 293 ASLRRA member railroads received a Jake Award, recognizing above-industry average safety performance during 2018.
About ASLRRA – The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of the nation’s 603 short line and regional railroads and railroad supply company members in legislative and regulatory matters. Short lines operate 47,500 miles of track in 49 states, or approximately 29% of the national railroad network, touching in origination or termination one out of every five cars moving on the national railroad system, serving customers who otherwise would be cut off from the national railroad network.
