(The following story by Gregory Richards appeared on The Virginian-Pilot website on March 5.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Even as railroad accidents and related deaths fell last year, spills of hazardous materials increased, a federal agency reported Tuesday.
National rail safety trends were mirrored in Virginia, according to the data released by the Federal Railroad Administration.
Norfolk Southern Corp., which has its headquarters in Norfolk and is the nation’s fourth-largest railroad, also experienced fewer incidents and fatalities last year, the data showed.
There were 168 rail-related accidents in Virginia last year, down 19.6 percent from 2006.
The agency counts accidents in three categories: train accidents such as derailments and collisions; grade-crossing accidents in which a vehicle and a train collide; and others such as work-related injuries for railroad employees and incidents involving trespassers.
Of the 168 accidents in Virginia last year, there were 40 train accidents, down 24.5 percent from 2006, and 35 highway-rail incidents, an 18.6 percent decrease from 2006.
Five people died statewide last year in rail-related accidents, all of them trespassers on railroad property, according to the agency.
Nationwide, the rail-related accident count fell 5.8 percent, to 12,622, according to the safety data. The number of train accidents dropped 13.7 percent between 2006 and 2007, to 2,547.
There were 2,728 incidents involving vehicles and trains last year, 6.9 percent below 2006.
The agency reported that 865 people died in U.S.
rail -related accidents last year, down 4.9 percent from 2006. Of those, 339 died in highway-rail crashes and 486 died trespassing on train tracks.
Those figures are “not perfect by any means – there are some places, obviously, that we need to really take a strong look at,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman. “But we’ve got a lot of statistics that are now telling us we’re really heading in the right direction.”
Across the United States last year, 43 train accidents resulted in the release of hazardous materials, the most in at least a decade and a 53.6 percent jump from 2006, the rail agency said. However, the number of cars releasing hazardous substances rose only 5.8 percent, to 73.
Boardman, speaking via conference call to reporters Tuesday, attributed that increase at least in part to increasing rail shipments of ethanol. “One of the things we’ve seen is a lot of releases, especially from the valves, and people trying to
understand how do they need
to seal these new tanks,” he said.
The rail agency will likely propose new rules on tank car design in the next month, Boardman said.
There was one train accident involving the release of hazardous material in Virginia last year, compared with none in 2006, according to the data. Norfolk Southern had five incidents resulting in hazardous materials releases in 2007 – the same as in 2006 – across its 21,000-mile eastern U.S. rail network.
Norfolk Southern’s safety record improved on many levels last year, the rail agency data show. It incurred a total of 1,224 rail-related accidents in 2007, down 2.6 percent from 2006. Train accidents slipped 7.5 percent, to 233, and highway-rail accidents fell 7.4 percent, to 439.
The railroad experienced 112 fatalities last year, down 5.1 percent from 2006, according to the rail agency. Highway-rail
accidents accounted for 42 of those deaths and trespassing for 67.
Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman said he could not specifically address the rail agency’s figures, but he said safety is a fundamental part of the railroad’s culture. “It’s our highest priority,” he said.
Norfolk Southern has won the rail industry’s top honor for employee safety, the gold E.H. Harriman Memorial Safety Award, for 18 consecutive years.
However, last year, Norfolk Southern experienced a 10.8 percent increase in employee injuries – to 370, the agency reported.
The railroad is holding a safety banquet this week at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott to recognize top safety performers, Chapman said. More than 550 people from Norfolk Southern’s rail network are attending, he said.
Among those being recognized is Hampton Roads locomotive engineer Buster Davis, who has worked 52 years with no injuries at Norfolk Southern and its predecessor railroads, Chapman said. Davis, 77, remains an active employee, he said.