(The following article by Tory N. Parrish was posted on the Observer-Dispatch website on March 13.)
ONEIDA, N.Y. — Railroad accidents nationally decreased between 2005 and 2006, but the severity of recent incidents in New York State — some of which involved hazardous materials — has raised concerns.
Monday’s derailment of 26 CSX Transportation rail cars and subsequent propane explosions in Oneida only added to those concerns.
“Today’s accident should be a wake up call. We cannot continue to treat these derailments as isolated incidents,” said U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in a letter to Joseph H. Boardman, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.
In that letter, she cited two incidents that occurred in mid-January: the derailments of a CSX train in East Rochester and a train transporting 30,000 gallons of liquefied propane in Maspeth, Queens.
Citing those incidents and others in Buffalo and Rochester, and the increasing number of accidents caused by inadequate infrastructure, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to reintroduce his Rail Crossing and Hazardous Materials Act.
He said the bill would improve New York state’s rail system by reducing manual switches, setting stricter age restrictions on cars carrying hazardous waste and imposing steeper fines for violations.
Schumer discussed Monday’s incident with Boardman.
“I have spoken with FRA Administrator Boardman and the FRA is still trying to determine the cause of this very serious incident,” Schumer said.
Accidents down
Between 2005 and 2006, train accidents decreased 12.4 percent, and derailments decreased 8.3 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
During that same period in New York state, train accidents decreased 15.2 percent to 89, while derailments decreased 21.1 percent to 45.
Most train accidents are the result of human error, officials said, but both the government and railroad companies have taken steps to reduce the likelihood of an accident.
While no one is downplaying the seriousness of Monday’s derailment in Oneida, government and railroad officials attribute the decline in railroad accidents to increased safety measures. Such measures include those regarding the loading, unloading and labeling of hazardous materials being transported.
Some say that the railroad companies have taken the lead in pushing safety.
Federal regulations for the transport of hazardous materials haven’t changed as much as the railroads taking steps to protect their profits, by upgrading tracks, trains, signals and other equipment, said William C. Keppen, an Annapolis, Md.-based transportation safety consultant.
Railroad accidents have decreased because railroads have spent billions of dollars to improve their systems, said Anthony Hatch, a New York City-based independent railroad expert.
“There is every business incentive in the world for the railroads to run a safe system,” Hatch said.
CSX freight cars are inspected before every trip, and track is inspected at least twice a week on non-consecutive days, CSX Spokesman Robert Sullivan said.