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FRA: Oil industry shares responsibility for oil train safety
I don’t agree.
Can you expand on that?
I do agree. Those volatiles have to be removed before being pumped through pipelines. Why should they not be removed before shipping by rail?
William McFadden, Your question is a key to the puzzle. Read it aloud to yourself then you’ll get your answer
Something has to be done soon. NS is now running unit oil trains under the 15,000 volt catenary wires of the NEC for 25 + miles in Maryland and Delaware. On the adjacent tracks , “fully loaded” Amtrak trains are passing them at 125+ mph. Need I say more about what could happen here if an oil train derailed here and a high speed train with 600+ passengers crashed into the tank cars from the adjacent track with 15,000 volt wires being torn down. This could be the worst transportation disaster ever. Those trains need to be off the NEC today not tomorrow. I wonder what Amtrak was thinking when they gave NS permission to use the high speed NEC mainline.
I don’t agree because the railroads are the transportation experts. The oil companies produce oil and historically have hired responsible third parties to move the product. I also find it interesting that the FRA is quick to pass the blame.
Mr Nicholas, NS trackage rights date back to when the line was transferred to Amtrak from Conrail (ex PC ex PRR). Further many of the destinations are only accessible off the NEC. To continue a ban on hazardous goods of the corridor would also deny many cities the ability use freight rail for the delivery of needed chemicals for water purification and treatment.
In another category it is very likely with a New Years Eve change of rules it is very possible that the oil industry may now have incentives to due some processing in North Dakota that makes Bakken oil safer in transit.
Mr. Narita I am only talking about banning the oil trains because of the distinct possibility of a catastrophic accident -based upon recent events- which could occur at any time. NS has an option when the oil trains reach Harrisburg, PA to continue down their mainline and interchange with CSX in North East PA or in Manville, NJ. CSX could then deliver the trains on their tracks down to the Delaware oil refinery. It’s longer, will cost more, but will not put Amtrak passengers in harm way.
Why do accidents or rather incidents happen?, bad rail? Speeding? Crewmembers? There is NO clear answer yet, however I do NOT want to be on a train thatthis happens to, I AM a Locomotive Engineer, I try as much as I can to be Safe!!! I wish ALL Trainmen safe passage! Lets be safe out there Brothers!!!
“I also find it interesting that the FRA is quick to pass the blame.”
How could they NOT start passing the blame at this point? The FRA has been changing the procedures and regulations for handling this stuff for a half a decade now. Railroads have exhausted their list of mitigation efforts short of not hauling the stuff! Clearly there is an issue with the commodity itself that proves it to be particularly dangerous. That can only be addressed by the shipper. It’s time they got off their ass. It’s like taking a package to the UPS Store, saying your box contains copier paper when it contains fireworks, and wondering why it burns quicker and explodes when the UPS truck turns over on the interstate.
I think some testing needs to be done with instrumenting a unit tank train filled with water and run it around the country. There might be some handling conditions that have enough effect on such a large liquid load that is causing derailments.