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FRA Railroad Safety Advisory Committee to hold emergency meeting Aug. 29
This strikes me as another guilty party that took no preemptive measures in the face of risk, much like the later additions of lifeboats required on all liners after the Titanic sank,.While it may ease the overall potential of the catastrophic scope of future events ( which is laudable) the issues of tank cars and bulk oil on rails was an accident waiting to happen. In my book, the regulatory agencies were asleep at the wheel, and an “emergency” session seems like a pathetic knee jerk response, although a necessary one.
Yes, and all the while the nation’s railroad’s provide wide open and unchallenged access to a legion of vandals. The effort taken to scrawl fifty feet of graffiti down a boxcar could easily be used for more sinister actions.
If such committees truly cared for safety the nation’s rails would be secure. Yet, its a giant playground for trespassers who everybody assumes are happy just to deface equipment.
I hope that TRAINS MAG will send a reporter to this meeting and produce a detailed report on what is discussed there. It is apparent that a number of things went wrong that night, and the causes of this frightful accident need to be understood and promulgated to to everyone all up and down the line who runs trains.
NY HAS LAWS AGAINST WALKING ON RR PROPERTY yet this months trains has a RR UP north losing. Its lease for not allowing others on its right of way.