(The following story by Erica Jacobson appeared on The Examiner website on June 26.)
BALTIMORE — Railroad officials issued a third heat order in as many days Friday for MARC commuter trains traveling the Brunswick and Camden lines that connect Baltimore and Martinsburg, W.Va., with Washington.
The orders, issued by CSX, slow Maryland Transit Administration trains and others traveling CSX rails so crews can check for warped rails that can lead to derailments, MTA spokeswoman Mabilia Reyes said.
“It’s a lot easier for them to get an s-shape instead of staying straight,” she said.
CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said heat orders are triggered by days when temperatures fluctuate more than 40 degrees or when there have been several consecutive days where temperatures have reached 85 to 95 degrees. Sullivan said the railroad sends additional crews to check the rails from 1 to 7 p.m. on heat order days.
The problem with warping lies in the increased use of continuous weld rails, where rail sections can be up to a quarter-mile long, Sullivan said. It’s a better, smoother system for running trains, Sullivan said, but not for allowing rails to expand with heat. As a result, all trains must reduce their speed by 20 mph with passenger trains going no slower than 40 mph and freight trains traveling at least 30 mph.
Sullivan said the railroad knows a longer commute on heat order days can inconvenience riders, but a safe arrival is in everyone’s best interests.
“It is absolutely a safety issue,” Sullivan said. “You don’t want to compromise safety.”
Heat order stats
— 10: Heat order days to date in 2006
— 17: Heat order days in 2005
— 20: Heat order days in 2004
— July 29, 2002: Amtrak’s Capitol Limited derails in Kensington because of a sun kink, 101 injured; Brunswick line shut down