Automated Track Inspection Waiver Is Back
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
Image courtesy BNSF
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Railroad Safety Board has approved a new temporariy waiver allowing U.S. railroads to expand field testing of automated track inspection (ATI) technology and collect crucial data to improve safety.
This waiver, which railroads have been seeking for years, will allow them to build on the work on this technology to date and allow the industry to refine it and expand it to new areas on their systems, which will add to the knowledge base around this technology.
The DOT press release said “The FRA’s five-year waiver gives the rail industry a long overdue opportunity to demonstrate how ATI technology can assist safety inspectors by identifying defects or hazards that might otherwise be missed during routine visual inspections.”
Secretary Duffy said “The new waiver will allow U.S. railroads to complement visual track inspections with innovative technology that will identify issues on our rail before they become a serious safety threat for rail passengers and crew. Achieving the highest standards of safety is the top priority and this research can help our industry unlock the latest and greatest methods to get American families to their destinations as safely and efficiently as possible.”
FRA Administrator David Fink added that “This waiver will provide the industry with an opportunity to demonstrate the potential of automated track inspection technology to enhance rail safety and improve efficiency. ATI technology is designed to enhance already effective visual inspections by catching things that human eyes miss.”
Additional Information
The FRA’s Railroad Safety Board is comprised of technical experts within the agency. The operations under the ATI waiver will be similar to previous ATI test programs conducted by freight and commuter railroads, with only minor changes to railroads’ non-automated track inspection activities such as the addition of data collection and sharing requirements, which will enable the agency to better evaluate potential benefits and drawbacks. More information related to this approval is available at www.regulations.gov, in Docket No. FRA-2025-0059.
