Immediate Inspection For CSX Trains
(CBS/AP) RENSSELAER, N.Y. The head of the Federal Railroad Administration said Monday that recent derailments of CSX trains in New York have raised "real and serious questions" about the company's safety programs and ordered an immediate inspection of 1,300 miles of railroad tracks.
The FRA on Monday started a two-day inspection of the tracks by a special computer equipped rail car one week after an 80-car freight train partly derailed in Oneida.
At least five tanker cars two carrying liquid propane, two loaded with liquid petroleum and one containing the solvent toluene caught fire or exploded in the wreck, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.
The statewide inspection had been scheduled to take place next month, but was moved up at Boardman's order. The car will measure whether track rails are level and if the width between them is safe. Another inspection next month will check for track weaknesses such as faulty cross-ties or poor connections between the cross-ties and tracks.
The FRA will assess the CSX rail inspection program, first in New York, and then in the rest of its 22,000-mile rail network covering 23 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces. The company holds primary responsibility for making sure its tracks are safe.
A spokesman for Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX did not immediately return a call for comment.
Boardman wants to know what criteria the railroad uses to determine how frequently it inspects its own tracks, if track improvement decisions are made differently for lines carrying hazardous material and how the company uses technology to find and fix flaws.
In January, a broken rail in East Rochester caused another CSX train to derail, sending freight cars toppling from an overpass and onto front yards.
The FRA in January said it would investigate the safety of railroad overpasses in Erie and Chautauqua Counties following two derailments in as many days in December.
The accidents "have caused lots of disruption and severely taxed the resources of local emergency responders," said Boardman, a former New York state Department of Transportation commissioner.
(CBS/AP) RENSSELAER, N.Y. The head of the Federal Railroad Administration said Monday that recent derailments of CSX trains in New York have raised "real and serious questions" about the company's safety programs and ordered an immediate inspection of 1,300 miles of railroad tracks.
The FRA on Monday started a two-day inspection of the tracks by a special computer equipped rail car one week after an 80-car freight train partly derailed in Oneida.
At least five tanker cars two carrying liquid propane, two loaded with liquid petroleum and one containing the solvent toluene caught fire or exploded in the wreck, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.
The statewide inspection had been scheduled to take place next month, but was moved up at Boardman's order. The car will measure whether track rails are level and if the width between them is safe. Another inspection next month will check for track weaknesses such as faulty cross-ties or poor connections between the cross-ties and tracks.
The FRA will assess the CSX rail inspection program, first in New York, and then in the rest of its 22,000-mile rail network covering 23 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces. The company holds primary responsibility for making sure its tracks are safe.
A spokesman for Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX did not immediately return a call for comment.
Boardman wants to know what criteria the railroad uses to determine how frequently it inspects its own tracks, if track improvement decisions are made differently for lines carrying hazardous material and how the company uses technology to find and fix flaws.
In January, a broken rail in East Rochester caused another CSX train to derail, sending freight cars toppling from an overpass and onto front yards.
The FRA in January said it would investigate the safety of railroad overpasses in Erie and Chautauqua Counties following two derailments in as many days in December.
The accidents "have caused lots of disruption and severely taxed the resources of local emergency responders," said Boardman, a former New York state Department of Transportation commissioner.
