Michaud, Pingree Meet with Federal Railroad Administration Administrator in Washington

Press Release

Today, Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree met with Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator Joseph Szabo in Michaud's Washington office. In a July 11th letter, Pingree and Michaud requested that the federal government review Maine's rail infrastructure. FRA has since announced that it will conduct inspections in Maine and New England. Today's meeting was a chance for Michaud and Pingree to hear directly from FRA on their plans and to stress the importance of ensuring Maine's rail infrastructure is safe.

"I want to commend the FRA and Administrator Szabo for their responsiveness and collaboration since the tragedy in Quebec. Following the incident and our request letter, they immediately took action to conduct thorough safety reviews of rail operations in Maine. Those inspections are expected to continue throughout the summer and will help to identify and correct any deficiencies found. We all want immediate answers, but we need to allow investigators time to do their jobs. Canadian crews continue to do all they can to sift through and clean up the wreckage, and they are still working to locate and identify victims," said Michaud, a member of the Railroad Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

"I appreciate Administrator Szabo providing us an update on FRA's efforts in Maine," Michaud continued. "They are conducting a thorough review of the rail operations in Maine, including operating practices, equipment, signal and train control, hazardous materials, and the track itself. While those inspections will take some time, I look forward to reviewing FRA's findings once they are complete."

"I know that federal authorities have been doing regular inspections but we need more than that--a comprehensive, top to bottom review of the entire system to see where the vulnerabilities are and how safe it is to transport oil by rail through Maine. It was good to talk to Administrator Szabo face to face about that today, and I know he got the message that we really need a thorough safety review," said Pingree.

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