AP Exclusive: Fuel-hauling trains could derail at 10 a year [View all]

[unhappycamper]

http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/cops/courts/fires/15799218-95/ap-exclusive-fuel-hauling-trains-could-derail-at-10-a-year



AP Exclusive: Fuel-hauling trains could derail at 10 a year
By MATTHEW BROWN and JOSH FUNK
Associated Press
Sunday, February 22, 2015
(Published in print: Monday, February 23, 2015)

The federal government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the United States.

The projection comes from a previously unreported analysis by the Department of Transportation that reviewed the risks of moving vast quantities of both fuels across the nation and through major cities.

The study completed last July took on new relevance last week after a train carrying crude oil derailed in West Virginia, sparked a fire and forced hundreds of families to evacuate.

Last Monday’s accident was the last in a spate of fiery derailments, and senior federal officials said it drives home the need for stronger tank cars, more effective braking systems and other improvements.

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Let's start calling these things what they are: Bomb Trains.