Deemed by Greenbrier to be six to eight times safer than the DOT-111 tank car (which has been on NTSB’s most-wanted list since 1995), the Tank Car of the Future, which was displayed at GBW’s “Safer Tank Cars Now” event, features a 9/16-inch steel tank shell vs. a 7/16-inch steel tank shell. The thicker shell decreases the threat of puncture and product release in the event of derailment, Greenbrier said. Other features include a minimum 11-gauge steel jacket, ceramic insulation, high-flow pressure relief valve, full-height half-inch-thick head shields on both ends of the car, and a detachable bottom outlet valve handle.
NTSB issued safety recommendations for tank cars transporting crude oil on April 3, 2015 in an effort to hasten issuance of a rulemaking on a new DOT-117 car. The recommendations are derived from NTSB’s examination of damaged tank cars following the February 16, 2015 derailment of a CSX Transportation crude oil unit train in Mount Carbon, W.Va., as well as a review of data collected from accidents that occurred in Gogama, Ontario, on February 14, 2015; Galena Ill., on March 5, 2015; and again at Gogama, on March 7, 2015.
“When we’re using the same cars to move corn oil that we’re using to move crude oil, that is not OK,” said NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “Five events this year means that ten years is too long to wait [for something to be done]. We need a quick response from regulatory agencies; we do not know why there is the delay in the ruling but we hope the recommendations made will help make it happen.”
“The lack of a standard is causing ambiguity in our industry,” said Cambridge Systematics Principal Andreas E. Aeppli. He added that by 2015, approximately 154,000 cars will be affected by the new ruling, and based on a Cambridge Systematics study, the whole fleet could be retrofitted in 6.7 years. This would entail the retrofit of the newer Casualty Prevention Circular (CPC)-1232s, in addition to some, but not all, of the DOT-111s. (Editor's note: The Greenbrier-commissioned Cambridge Systematics study contrasts sharply with a prior Brattle Group study commissioned by the Railway Supply Institute Committee on Tank Cars, of which Greenbrier is a member. Greenbrier participated in the Brattle Group study, supplying its own estimated production and capacity figures, according to RSI.)
Aeppli said that although there is a strong argument for retrofitting the DOT-111s first because they pose a higher risk, the focus right now is on retrofitting unjacketed CPC-1232s, followed by unjacketed DOT-111s because these are “more time consuming.”
“A lot of these older cars might not be retrofitted until there is a demand for them,” Aeppli said. He added that 85,000 cars could be delivered this year, which would be a “record since the 1970s.”
Hart said that NTSB wants an “aggressive” timeline for the retrofit, as well as mileposts to go along with that. In addition, NTSB recommends that the railroads need resources available to help make the public aware of what’s going on in their communities.
“Ten years is too long to wait but today’s visit shows that it doesn’t have to take that long,” Hart said.