CSX Fined $298,000

The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration announced that it had assessed fines totaling $298,000 against CSX for multiple violations of highway-rail grade crossing safety regulations related to a 2004 crossing accident in Henrietta, NY., where a train struck a vehicle and killed an elderly couple. The fines, some of the largest by FRA in recent memory, cited CSX for failure to make repairs without undue delay at 3 highway-rail grade crossings and for failing to have the train crew involved stop and flag highway traffic as the required alternate means of providing warning and protection to motorists, and additionally cited CSX for inadequate drainage caused by fouled ballast. (ffd: Progressive Railroading, Railway Age)

What does everyone think? Was this justified? Should they have taken more? Less?

298,000 is chump change to CSX

that dollar ammount is about what it costs to overhaul a single prime mover on a single locomotive

or paint 3 or 4 locomotives

And how much is CSX losing due to the bad publicity that goes with the fine??? Looks like chump change, but in reality it may very well come back to bite the company financially later.

no it wont

lax security didnt seem to affect american or united airlines...

and that incident was a tad more "public"

also, note that these occurances happened in the former conrail areas...

people who still cant get over the fact that they dont work for conrail anymore

crazy_nip wrote:no it wont

lax security didnt seem to affect american or united airlines...

and that incident was a tad more "public"

It hurt them where companies fear most: their stocks. More money is lost there than will ever be lost due to fines, you can bet your butt that the corporate bigwigs take notice when that happens.

Nip, Check the company stats, Albany Division has one of the lowest accident, and injury rates on the entire system. The issues of failure noted and addressed by the FRA were directly linked to CSX's reductions in maintainance budgets. These were CSX employees, supervisors, managers following CSX company policies and doctrine. While trying to obtain system uniformity in maintainance practices CSX implimented practices which were already in place else where on it;s system. This being all well and good except that this region of New York, experiences more drastic climatic changes than anywhere else on the CSX system. Yes, other areas receive heavy snow, frigid temps, but not for thr durations which occure up here. Sub. zero temps lasting for 2 or more weeks combined with persistant snowfall during the winter months and tempurature swings of 30 degrees or more during the summer months. This past summer on several days the tempature dropped from near 90 degrees to the mid 60's as weather fronts passed through with severe thunder storms and heavey rains followed a couple days latter with temps back near 90 and humid again. These conditions oviously cause alot of stress on the Railroads infastructure. This past year CSX has taken an aggressive maintainance stance and has done alot of work to correct the issues noted by the FRA. Divisional management needs to be allowed to utilize practices which work for their particular regions. What works up here may not work in Fla. for various reasons and visa versa. Different climates, ballast, ties, etc.
I remember a number of high profile accidents on CSX in Fla. and other preConrail CSX territories in the past couple of years. CSX weekly posts critical incident reports which are posted at all CSX terminals. They list the incidents by division, rule violations. Almost every week I see, the "Florence Sub", "Chicago Sub", or "Jacksonville sub". Seems like alot more troubles on other divisions outside of former Conrail territory. The proof is on the paper. YOU are the only person who can't seem to get over the former Conrail issue. Inferiority complex? Remember, Conrail sought out CSX as a merger partner, not a buyout or hostile takeover. It wasn't until the NS started a bidding battle which finally forced the stock value too high and federal arbitrators forced CSX and NS to split up Conrail. Now, we are all CSX. It's been CSX for over 6 years now. Were you this antagonistic when Chessie merged with Seaboard to create CSX? or the RF&P, Clinchfield, L&N?
As far as the American Airlines and United Airlines issues with the 9/11 negative pubicity, Did you forget the GW Bush authorized over 2.1 billion in bailout funds to help the airline industry from going bankrupt? As far as negative publicity goes. The shippers who utilize CSX are more concerned with their products being delivered in a timely manner than a grade crossing accident. in a far away place. It's the trains being sent to the wrong terminal causing delays of days, and large derailments which catch the eyes and ears of shippers.
We are ALL CSX now Nip, get over yourself.

roadster wrote:The issues of failure noted and addressed by the FRA were directly linked to CSX's reductions in maintainance budgets. These were CSX employees, supervisors, managers following CSX company policies and doctrine.

yes, policy and procedure says to drag your feet when grade crossings are out of service...

if memory serves me correctly, the CREW failed to stop and flag, and that is what this is all about

so you have a signal maintainer not doing his job and a CREW not doing their job

that IS what it is all about

from the vaunted ex-conrail "we do everything right" ranks nonetheless

Well 298K is pocket change for CSX I think.

1. Nearly $300,000 is not pocket change to CSX or any other railroad. Now they have $300,000 less to work with--that could have gone quite a long way.

2. It's hard to get "bad pubilicity" when you're moving freight. Do you think consignees will pay more for shipping because the FRA fined CSX?

Nip, I guess that says it all about CSX crews all over for you then. What about the CSX crew that left a switch locked for the siding and their parked train causing an accident 1 week following the NS disaster. As I said the maintainers were following their superiors directions and CSX policies. DOING their job as so directed. Yes, the crew did miss the "stop and protect" order, but you failed to note that this was the third "Stop and Protect", for deactivated crossing detection circuits with 15 miles and several crossings in this area. They thought the S&P was the next crossing 1/2 mile east of the incident. Try again to tell me that the maintainers failed to do their job, Better yet you hop up in that cab, and see how well you do.
Armchair quaterbacking is sssoooooo easy isn't it. Maybe you should read the FRA report which directly faulted CSX's proceedures. Again, Get over it and your Conrailphobia.

I am not objecting to a heated discussion, but I think now is a good time to say: Let's not get out of hand...........

That said, I kind of think CSX had this coming. On the West Shore Line, the crew made a mistake with the S&P and I don't know what it's like in the cab. I can't imagine how the crew feels, even today. I also naturally feel bad for the family who lost their loved ones. I do blame CSX because of the lack of maintainance at the time. They have done considerable upgrades here since, however, and I applaud them for that.

Avro Arrow wrote:2. It's hard to get "bad pubilicity" when you're moving freight. Do you think consignees will pay more for shipping because the FRA fined CSX?

They may or they may not, but where it really hurts is in the stock market and the dividends to the share holders...bad publicity causes the stocks to fall, stocks falling means less money for share holders, less money for share holders means less people will buy the stocks, less people buying the stocks and the price falls more...and so forth down the line with money being lost all over the place. It's a viscious cycle and if it gets bad enough it will directly affect the company all the way down to the individual workers.

efin98 wrote:

Avro Arrow wrote:2. It's hard to get "bad pubilicity" when you're moving freight. Do you think consignees will pay more for shipping because the FRA fined CSX?

They may or they may not, but where it really hurts is in the stock market and the dividends to the share holders...bad publicity causes the stocks to fall, stocks falling means less money for share holders, less money for share holders means less people will buy the stocks, less people buying the stocks and the price falls more...and so forth down the line with money being lost all over the place. It's a viscious cycle and if it gets bad enough it will directly affect the company all the way down to the individual workers.

No, it doesn't, because there is no such thing as bad publicity in the first place.

Even so, it would not cause the cataclysm you described.

Avro Arrow wrote:No, it doesn't, because there is no such thing as bad publicity in the first place.

There is such a thing, the myth that "any publicity is good publicity" is just that- a myth. Bad publicity hurt a hell of alot more than it helps,especially for a for-profit publically traded company like CSXT.

Even so, it would not cause the cataclysm you described.

It could happen, and has happened in the past to other companies who had alot of bad publicity- especially ones involving safety. It was already stated by another person that the money takes away from the company, and the additional revenues lost through the bad publicity will only multiply those losses. Just watch the stocks on the company, the people in charge sure are.