The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has launched a national initiative to inspect routes transporting high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) and other trains carrying significant amounts of hazardous materials, according to an announcement by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
FRA officials and officials with the Pipeline and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will identify the HHFT routes and "prioritize them for inspection beginning immediately," the DOT reports in the March 1 announcement. The inspections will start in East Palestine, Ohio, site of a train derailment on Feb. 3 involving a Norfolk Southern freight train transporting hazardous and toxic materials. The inspections will expand nationwide from there, the DOT reports.
“Today our FRA Administrator is back in East Palestine, OH kicking off a focused inspection program to enhance oversight on key hazardous material routes,” Secretary of Transportation Peter Buttigieg wrote in a March 1 Twitter post. “It's one more step we're taking as a department & part of our push for action to increase accountability & rail safety.”
The inspections will entail mandating two-person train crews, scrutinizing legacy tank cars, and exploring rules for electronically controlled pneumatic brakes on HHFTs and trains carrying hazardous materials.
“FRA is vigorously responding to the concerns expressed by residents of East Palestine and the surrounding areas, and as a result of the recent derailment, we are ramping up our safety efforts across the country,” FRA Administrator Amit Bose said in the announcement.
Buttigieg emphasized the need for accountability and safety improvements in the freight rail industry, including identifying timely actions for Class I railroads to enhance rail safety in communities across the US and improve working conditions for railway workers, and implementing the Train Crew Staffing Rule (TCSR).
TCSR would mandate that most railroad operations have at least two crew members on board trains to ensure safety and minimize the risk of accidents. Other measures include a focused inspection program for hazardous material trains, legacy tank cars, and unsafe shippers and railroads. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will also provide funding for projects to modernize rail tracks, eliminate at-grade rail crossings, and improve rail safety. Moreover, rulemaking may be pursued concerning high-hazard flammable trains and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes.
