CN to phase out certain tank cars used in transporting dangerous goods

CN has announced plans to phase out DOT-111 tank cars over the next four years as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen the company’s safety management system (SMS) and improve transportation of dangerous goods.

“We have developed a comprehensive work plan to bolster our overall safety performance and to enhance our strong record of delivering 99.998% of dangerous goods to destination without a release caused by an accident,” Claude Mongeau, CN’s president and CEO, says in a statement.

The plan follows the tragic derailment in Lac-Mégantic last July 6. Sixty-three of the 72 oil tanker cars on a Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway train derailed in the Quebec town, prompting a massive fire and explosion that claimed the lives of almost four dozen people.

As part of CN’s work plan, the railway is looking to address risks associated with the older DOT-111 tank cars used in the movement of highly flammable products, notes the statement from CN, which transports about $250 billion worth of goods annually across a rail network spanning Canada and mid-America.

CN plans to phase out the company fleet of DOT-111 tank cars over the next four years. Specifically, there will be a gradual phase-out of the small fleet of 183 legacy DOT-111 tank cars used to transport diesel fuel for its locomotives to yard terminals, the company reports.

CN is investing $7 million to replace all the DOT-111 tank cars it owns outright with 40 new tank cars meeting the latest regulatory standards by the end of this year. The remaining 143 leased DOT-111 cars will also be replaced with a gradual phase-out plan completed as leases mature over the next four years.

“For CN, tank car design is one of the most important systemic issues arising from the Lac-Mégantic accident,” Mongeau says in the statement.

“The question of tank car robustness is central, and that question is being addressed by the AAR (Association of American Railroads), to which CN belongs, in recent recommendations calling for the retrofitting or phase-out of the old DOT-111 cars used to transport flammable liquids and a reinforced standard for new tank cars built in the future,” he adds.

The other two major components of the plan are preventing accidents through process, technology, people and investments as part of a sound SMS; and strengthening emergency response capabilities through sharing of relevant information with communities, training support and mutual aid intervention protocols.

“CN believes that the rail industry can enhance safety by working more closely with communities. CN has already done this by launching a comprehensive outreach program to meet municipalities and their emergency responders along its network in order to discuss the nature and volumes of dangerous commodities transported through the communities we serve,” Mongeau says.

“This voluntary program is on top of the requirement to divulge such information annually to Canadian municipalities, as announced last fall by Transport Minister Lisa Raitt,” he adds.

“CN is urging the implementation of mutual aid intervention protocols, with the participation of other carriers and producers of dangerous commodities. This would help codify emergency response standards and expand response resources in order to be prepared to handle any future rail incidents involving dangerous goods,” the statement notes.

Since the tragic Lac-Mégantic accident, CN reports, steps already taken include a comprehensive review of train securement practices and implementation of a special program to acquire additional monitoring equipment to enhance early detection of defects and to mitigate the severity of accidents.

Earlier this month, Ottawa announced proposed regulations that would give the federal transport minister the power to stop unsafe railways from operating if there are “extreme safety issues.”

The Railway Safety Act currently gives railway inspectors the power to issue a “letter of non-compliance” if a railway firm is found to be violating the law. Under this system, an operator has 14 days to correct the problem.

While, at present, Transport Canada’s only option in cases of persistent non-compliance is prosecution, “the proposed Railway Operating Certificate Regulations and associated legislative provisions expand Transport Canada’s enforcement continuum and provide the Minister of Transport with the ability to remove a (railway operating certificate), thereby stopping a company from operating in a case where there are extreme safety issues.”

In November, the Canadian Transportation Agency published a discussion paper asking a series of questions on possible revisions to insurance requirements. The review was carried out in the aftermath of the Lac- Mégantic derailment.