Feds issue another crude-by-rail emergency order, advisory to enhance safety

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. More on the new emergency order

Hat tip, Trainorders: Fed tank car rules are slow in coming

NY Times has an article about the "flurry of emergency orders" issued by government regulators following concerns about oil safety.

The article notes that even the rail industry is divided. BNSF has broken with industry practice, and is buying new tank cars. Some refiners are hesitant about retiring "perfectly good" but not 1232 compliant cars. They note that 1232 cars were in the Lynchburg fire last week.

Canadian rules have raised the bar, and CN has raised shipping costs for non-compliant tank cars. That, in turn has created a problem for US shippers.
....

“We recognize the status quo isn’t acceptable,” said Mr. Simpson of the Rail Supply Institute. “If I could say one thing to the secretary of transportation, it is get the rule out. Give us certainty and we will act.”

Despite Orders, Federal Tank-Car Safety Measures Are Slow in Coming

By JAD MOUAWADMAY 8, 2014

The derailment of a freight train carrying crude oil in Lynchburg, Va., last week was a reminder that basic safety features of the oil-by-rails business remain vastly inadequate, despite a flurry of emergency orders by federal regulators.

The federal Department of Transportation, which on Wednesday said that the growing movement of oil trains posed an “imminent hazard” to the public, has nevertheless been slow to toughen up tank-car standards.
....

But safety advocates, as well as railroad officials, point out that these newer cars — known as CPC-1232s — have also failed in recent crashes.

Ten of the 13 cars that derailed in Lynchburg, Va., last week, for instance, were built after 2011, including the one that ruptured and spilled 30,000 gallons of oil into the James River, according to Eric Weiss, a spokesman at the National Transportation Safety Board. At least two other recent train derailments also involved newer tank cars.

Tracks by the James River near downtown Lynchburg, Va., where CSX tanker cars carrying crude oil derailed on April 30. Credit Steve Helber/Associated Press *

There are oil trains (follow up)

Feds tighten rules for oil trains passing through N.J. and other states

* I sent this email to the author:

The cutline for the AP picture says: "Tracks by the James River near downtown Lynchburg, Va., where CSX tanker cars carrying crude oil derailed on April 30. Credit Steve Helber/Associated Press"

That was a CSX train on CSX tracks. I'll bet a great deal, however, that the cars were privately owned. Reporting marks for privately owned cars end in "X." Example, GATX. I doubt they were CSX tank cars. Most tank cars are privately owned. It's been that way for, well, as long as I can remember. It probably has something to do with John D. Rockefeller.

http://www.gatx.com/wps/wcm/connect/gatx/gatx_site/home

Oooh, look at the big picture on the splash page.