(The following article by Brian Liberatore was posted on the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin website on January 30.)
BINGHAMPTON, N.Y. — With aging railroad infrastructure apparent in the Southern Tier and across the country, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., announced plans Monday to reintroduce a rail safety bill this week in the U.S. Senate.
The announcement comes on the heels of a rash of train derailments across upstate New York, which Schumer says point to the questionable safety of some of the region’s rail infrastructure.
In December, two tanker cars carrying butane derailed in Gang Mills, near Corning, and three cars derailed near Buffalo. This month, a tanker car carrying more than 20,000 gallons of methanol caught fire in a rail yard in Selkirk, near Albany, and 13 rail cars left the tracks in the Village of East Rochester.
“Schumer’s office is more optimistic (that the bill will pass) with the new Congress,” said Joshua Vlasto, a Schumer spokesman.
Schumer introduced the Rail Crossing and Hazardous Materials Transport Act, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., in 2004. The bill died in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Along with a $50 million federal grant program to complete vital infrastructure improvements, the law sets tougher minimum and maximum fines for fatal accidents and establishes new requirements for investigations, inspections and the use of new safety technology. The Federal Railroad Administration oversees the country’s rail infrastructure, auditing the rail industry’s internal rail inspections and periodically conducting its own inspections.
The grant money for rail improvements, Vlasto said, would be driven by local municipalities wishing to improve the appearance or safety of rail infrastructure.
According to Federal Railroad Administration statistics, there were 63 rail accidents, 30 derailments, 14 casualties and 383 total injuries last year nationwide.
New York state has 3,695 miles of freight rail tracks. The National Transportation Atlas Database reports that more than 2 million tons of chemicals are transported on the state’s rail network every year