Is a railroad tank car any more accident resistant than the tanker rolling down the interstate with the same chemicals inside?
Better protected on the ends and you don’t need a steering wheel.
Yes, better protected front, back, and sides. If only because in case of accident it is more likely to be battered by equally as heavy metals and steel than a tank on a concrete highway.
That is a good question. Tank cars are more robust, but they also are subjected to much higher forces. And they carry more, so they can fuel larger fires, explosions, and releases. They also are often in groups that further increase the capacity for adding to fires, explosions, and releases. And a derailment of one tank car in a group can easily derail other tank cars in the group.
On the other hand, tank cars can’t fall asleep.
I’m not sure I understand why it’s advantageous to be battered equally heavy tank cars?
A railroad tank car is the most expensive freight car you can buy, and it’s due to a number of features:
- Puncture resist end end caps
- Shelf couplers to keep the cars aligned in a derailment
- Heavy inner tank under that insulation/outer shell
Can any of the above fail and lead to an explosion/fire - Of course! But the safety record of rail tank movements is really quite good compared to truck tanker accidents.
Jim
Also, for the same volume (weight), there’s only about 1/4 to 1/5 as many tank cars as tank trucks, hence that much less opportunity for exposure to various hazards.
Also tank cars are not at risk from the unexpected acts of other drivers.