As the House voted on the rail safety bill, railroads reported the fewest train accidents in more than a decade for the first seven months of 2007. The nation's railroads experienced 263 fewer train derailments and collisions during the first seven months of 2007--a 15.2 percent reduction-- compared with the same period last year. If the trend continues through the end of the year, the railroads'will this year experience their lowest accident rate ever--3.19 per million train miles. In addition, highway-rail grade crossing accidents declined by 7.3 percent; and grade crossing fatalities were down by 11.2 percent.
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