MONTREAL ? Accident investigators at the Lac-M?gantic disaster site have sent twin, clear signals to Ottawa that, in their view, immediate changes to railway operating procedures are required.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has issued two ?urgent Safety Advisory Letters? ? one dated Thursday and the second Friday ? asking Transport Canada to conduct expedited reviews of what they termed ?immediate safety issues? raised by the devastation recently wrought on the Quebec railway town:
* They asked federal regulators to review ?the Canadian Rail Operating rules ... and the related railway special instructions? issued by individual rail operators ?to ensure that equipment and trains left unattended are properly secured in order to prevent unintended movements.?
* Taking special note of ?the vulnerability of unattended equipment,? they also asked that Transport Canada ?review all railway operating procedures to ensure that trains carrying dangerous goods are not left unattended on a main track.?
Details of the requests were revealed at a morning news briefing Friday, conducted by the TSB.
The briefing was held near where about 50 people are presumed to have perished early July 6 when a runaway, unattended oil train derailed at high speed in Lac-M?gantic?s core, followed by a series of explosions and intense fire.
The Thursday safety letter stated that the TSB had already concluded from an earlier investigation that a so-called push-pull rule, also known as a securement test, ?does not always adequately verify if the braking force of the hand brake application? is ?sufficient to hold the cars.?
The letter also stated that ?in many cases, it is left up to the operating employee to determine the number of hand brakes required under specific conditions.?
The current standard, known as Rule 112, ?is not specific enough,? the TSB told Transport Canada:
?It does not indicate the number of hand brakes necessary to hold a given train tonnage on various grades.?
In addition, the safety letter added, ?it continues to be left up to to operating employee to determine the number of hand brakes to apply.?
As well, ?not all handbrakes are effective even when properly applied.?
The letter cited ?considerable variability in the effectiveness of the hand brake system,? suggesting a linkage with ?design, condition and maintenance? issues.
Friday?s safety letter noted that the plan by the train?s operator ? the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA) ? ?was to leave the train on the main track (in nearby Nantes), unattended, with an unlocked locomotive cab, parked alongside a public highway where it was accessible to the general public, with no additional protection.?
Postings of the twin letters on the TSB?s website showed copies of both had been furnished to Edward Burkhardt, MMA?s chairman, and Michael Bourque, president and chief executive officer of the Railway Association of Canada.
janr@montrealgazette.com
Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F239/~3/Kd0DAiZ_fgs/story.html
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