Gov. Parson Requests Funding to Improve Rail Crossing Safety After Fatal Collisions

Amtrak receives $200 million in CRISI grants.

David C. Lester

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson requested a new line item in the fiscal year 2024 budget to increase safety measures at railroad crossings during his State of the State address on Jan. 18.

Parson proposes allocating $35 million from Missouri’s state budget to make rail crossings safer. His appeal for the funding allocation follows a particularly deadly year for train crossings in Missouri, a local news report said. According to the Federal Railroad Administration, train-car collisions killed more than 10 people in Missouri in 2022. 

According to data from the Missouri Department of Transportation and the FRA released in December of 2022, 19 of the 26 train crashes in the state in 2022 occurred at passive crossings and seven took place at active crossings.

Following a derailment near Mendon in Chariton County in June that killed three people and injured at least 50, MoDOT requested $50 million from the state to bolster safety features along Missouri’s railroad tracks. According to a local news outlet, the crossing where the collision occurred lacked any lights or electronic control devices. Parson’s proposal is $15 million less than the amount requested by MoDOT, according to a local news report. 

“While the power of our people and the goodness of their character made a bad situation a little better this time, the state must be proactive and help prevent a similar situation again,” Parson said. “That is why we are including $35 million to begin updating railway crossings to modern-day safety standards all across our state.”