No replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Bloomberg View via The Salt Lake Tribune, 6/13:

Oil train safety requires stronger cars, better tracks

U.S. and Canadian railways moved 50 times as much crude oil in 2013 as they did five years earlier. Yet in too many places this monumental undertaking has proved terrifying: Trains have derailed, causing explosions, fires, evacuations and trails of pollution.

To reduce the danger, two things must be made safer: the train cars that carry oil and the tracks themselves. So far, railway companies have wanted to focus on the cars because they lease rather than own most of them and don’t have to pay for the upgrades, whereas the tracks are their responsibility.

More rugged cars are less likely to burst in an accident. Upgraded models, available today to transport crude, have thicker shells than the older ones, plus special protection at both ends and for the top fittings.

SNIP

Speed limits — such as Canada’s 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) limit in areas near cities and drinking water — can help. But they aren’t the whole answer, either. The train that crashed in Lynchburg was traveling at just 24 mph.

Broken rails and other defects in tracks are the most common causes of derailments. This makes it imperative for Congress to approve the section of the Senate appropriations bill that provides $3 million to expand automated track inspections along crude-oil routes.

More.