The Metro-North Railroad emphasized on-time performance over safe operations and infrastructure, which created an unsafe culture, according to a new Federal Railroad Administration report that will be released Friday.
The FRA began a 60-day investigation called Operation Deep Dive after four major accidents on the railroad last year, including a Bronx derailment that killed four people.
The report was critical of safety practices throughout the railroad, from training to maintenance and focus on on-time performance.
Fourteen FRA teams went through the railroad’s records, documents and policies.
Investigators interviewed many Metro-North workers for the report, rode the trains and walked along its tracks.
Their findings included that the emphasis on on-time performance negatively affected train operations, as well as track inspection and maintenance.
Signal workers, for instance, said they felt pressure to rush when responding to failures, and federally mandated signal testing has also been reduced.
The report also said Metro-North had inconsistent cellphone rules, and maintenance workers were often on their phones. The FRA urges the railroad to create an electronic device distraction policy to discourage this.
In February this year, Metro-North had more than 100 vacancies among maintenance workers due to retirements, which can lead to overtime that causes fatigue and safety incidents, the FRA said.
The report also said Metro-North does not have a good record-keeping system to make sure signal inspections and tests are done on time, and that there were safety deficiencies in the railroad’s mechanical facilities.
FRA investigators also found safety issues at the operations control center, and said devices that safeguard tracks being repaired had been removed.
By May 17, the railroad has to give the FRA a plan addressing the actions that investigators call for, such as analyzing the train schedule to see if there is enough time for track maintenance and inspection.