The ten most-wanted improvements are “Disconnect from Distraction,” “Eliminate Substance Impairment in Transportation,” “Make Mass Transit Safer,” “Prevent Loss of Control in General Aviation,” “Enhance Public Helicopter Safety,” “Implement PTC in 2015,” “Strengthen Commercial Truck Safety,” “Strengthen Pilot Procedural Compliance,” “Improve Rail Tank Car Safety,” and “Require Medical Fitness for Duty.”
“Rail tank cars that carry crude oil, ethanol and other hazardous materials across the country must do it more safely,” NTSB said in announcing the list. Of the four new issues on the NTSB's Most Wanted List for 2015, “requiring that transportation operators be medically fit for duty” is the only other one concerning railroads. PTC has been on NTSB’s Most Wanted list for many years. “The Board has kept an existing priority on the list and specified a date certain: Implement Positive Train Control (PTC) in 2015. The date emphasizes the deadline established by Congress in 2008 for implementation of this life-saving technology.”
“The Most Wanted List is our roadmap for 2015,” said NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “We want it to be a roadmap for policy makers and legislators as well. These are safety improvements for which the time is ripe for action. . . .This year the NTSB is focusing on all modes of mass transit for greater operational safety.”
For hazmat tank cars, NTSB notes that “more crude oil and ethanol than ever is moving across America’s rails. But accidents demonstrate that the DOT-111 tank cars moving these flammable liquids are not up to the task. . . . [C]hanges to the North American energy landscape provide many more chances for fires, explosions, and releases of flammable liquids, and the proliferation of unit trains provides more fuel for any fire that does happen. . . . The NTSB has identified a number of vulnerabilities in DOT-111 tank car design with respect to tank heads, shells, and fittings. These vulnerabilities create the risk that, in an accident, hazardous materials could be released and, in the case of flammable liquids such as crude oil and ethanol, could ignite and cause catastrophic damage. . . . With more than 100,000 DOT-111 cars currently in use according to the Railway Supply Institute, it’s crucial to strengthen existing rail tank cars and new rail tank car regulatory requirements. The NTSB recommends enhanced tank head and shell puncture-resistance systems and top fittings protection. Preventing tragedies similar to Lac-Mégantic . . . will require a systems approach that keeps trains from derailing, especially in sensitive areas, and preserves tank car integrity if a derailment occurs. Adequate emergency preparedness is also crucial. One of the first steps industry can take is to appropriately plan and select routes to minimize the amount of hazardous materials that travel through highly populated areas. And the use of rail technologies such as PTC can help keep the train on the track. Regulators, industry, and emergency responders must prepare to handle the consequences of a rail tank car rupture. Regulators have taken steps toward enhancing the testing and classification of hazardous materials, and have required railroads to provide more information to State Emergency Response Commissions.”
The Greenbrier Companies, a major builder of railroad tank cars, immediately issued a statement supporting NTSB’s addition of tank car safety to the Most Wanted list.
“Including tank car safety on the list signifies the U.S. government’s recognition of the importance of this issue,” said Senior Vice President & Chief Engineer Greg Saxton. “As crude moves by rail across America, delivering great benefits to our economy, safety in how crude oil and other flammable commodities are transported must come first. We expect that the U.S. Department of Transportation will soon issue final regulations that mandate safer tank cars. Prompt implementation of proposed new tank car design and retrofit standards will ensure safer communities and provide railcar manufacturers like Greenbrier with the regulatory certainty needed to continue investments already under way to deliver more robust tank cars.”
Saxton pointed to Greenbrier’s Tank Car of the Future, announced in February 2014, as “a safer design for crude oil and ethanol service and the transport of other hazardous materials.” Greenbrier has received orders for more than 3,500 of these cars, which feature full-height head shield and thicker steel, and has begun delivering them to customers. Additionally, GBW Railcar Services, a 50/50 joint venture with Watco Companies, LLC formed last year, “is delivering retrofit solutions for the legacy DOT-111 tank cars, permitting extended service for DOT-111 tank cars in flammable liquids service and for other hazardous materials transport as these cars are placed in lower risk service over time.” Saxton added that Greenbrier “also offers retrofit alternatives for the most recently built CPC-1232 tank. Combined, these retrofits meaningfully improve the safety performance of all tank car types in continued service.”
“We support the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's effort to direct new design standards for tank cars used in flammable liquids service, specifically, ‘Option 2’ as published in the NPRM,” Saxton said. “We also support the agency’s effort to retrofit the existing fleet of tank cars currently used to transport all flammable commodities. The urgency for a final rule is apparent. We are alreadyresponding to this imperative and are ready to move even more quickly upon issuance of a final rule.”