Railroad safetyRailroad authority investigates threat of unattended trains

Often with hazardous cargo and left unattended // Source: aonetwork.com

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is currently investigating the dangers of unattended freight trains, especially those that carry hazardous materials, following a report by a Seattle, Washington television station.

In a segment called “Problem Solvers,” KOMO News investigators boarded several freight trains throughout the state without encountering security personnel or crew members.

In one instance, the news team was able to enter the unlocked lead locomotive of a train which was found idling just thirty miles north of Spokane. The train, which was left unattended for six hours, was carrying sulfuric acid, a highly corrosive liquid that would be extremely dangerous if released. Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), the train’s operator, strongly denied that its trains were unsafe and called the report “sensationalized accusations and exaggerated hypotheticals.”

The company allows trains to go unguarded to give crews operating on twelve hour shifts time to rest as well as to keep air in the compression brake systems.

BNSF also said the KOMO team “failed to recognize that there are numerous ways to immobilize a parked train such as removing essential equipment, tying down hand brakes, or isolating electrical fields on the locomotive.”

“Joe,” a BNSF employee interviewed for the story, claimedthat leaving trains unattended is company policy and that safeguards such as setting the handbrake would not be able to halt a train if its engines were fully throttled.

“It wouldn’t be hard for anyone to move one of these trains in the path of an oncoming train, and not only kill the crew but the community, too.”

In 1990 a homeless man hijacked an unattended, idling Burlington Northern train, taking it for a seventy-mile joyride from Seattle to Tukwila.

The Problem Solvers report also contained a videotaped deposition from an unrelated lawsuit in which Burlington Northern’s senior trainmaster Doug Kayser states that the company has never tested whether or not a trespasser could operate an idling train.

Following the report, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) raised the issue with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief John Pistole during a hearing on Capitol Hill on 9 November, asking him what TSA could do to make sure these security gaps are closed.

“We will work with the FRA to make sure these types of situations do not repeat,” Pistole responded. “I think it’s an issue that needs to be addressed both from a safety and security perspective.”

Senator Cantwell also expressed disbelief at TSA regulations which limit its authority to fifteen miles outside of the high-threat urban area of Seattle. “There’s a lot of rail traffic that goes through there [Spokane], and I think people would say, ‘Wait a minute, we’re not part of this protection.’” 

Pistole promised to review the regulations and make any changes deemed necessary.