This isn't surprising. Transit agencies aren't told about dangerous goods on the same roads as their buses, so I don't see why rail shoudl be different - especially as rail accidents are *much* rarer than road accidents.
If a GO Train were to colldie with *any* freight train (and that hasn't happened in the 40+ years GO has been operating), the results woudl be bad... which is why so much effort is made to ensure such collisions never happen.
As for the references to at Lac-Megantic: knowing that dangerous goods pass through would not prevented that tragedy.
Those DOT-111 tank cars that haul petroleum is like a bomb on wheels. The NTSB knew as far back as 1991 that those tank cars had numerous of design flaws.
If the railroads wont come clean then we need NIMBYism just like how the natives blocked off rail lines during their protests.
Every now and then, while I'm standing on a GO platform, a freight passes by with tanker cars. I like to Google the number that's on the placard of the tanker car. It's really quite interesting to see just how much crude oil (among other hazardous chemicals) pass by without us giving any thought to what's travelling past.
Same can be said for driving on any highway - do you know what's in that tanker barreling across the 401 beside you? They have coded symbols, but do I want to drive beside them, acknowledge what the symbol refers to - bio hazmat? so I can screech to a halt and take the next ramp onto the express lanes? We don't live in a bubble - 80% of consumer goods are moved by truck/rail. Having said that, I'd still like to know what my sleeping head on the quiet zone window is resting beside....
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This isn't surprising. Transit agencies aren't told about dangerous goods on the same roads as their buses, so I don't see why rail shoudl be different - especially as rail accidents are *much* rarer than road accidents.
ReplyDeleteIf a GO Train were to colldie with *any* freight train (and that hasn't happened in the 40+ years GO has been operating), the results woudl be bad... which is why so much effort is made to ensure such collisions never happen.
As for the references to at Lac-Megantic: knowing that dangerous goods pass through would not prevented that tragedy.
This scaremongering by The Star is despicable.
Those DOT-111 tank cars that haul petroleum is like a bomb on wheels. The NTSB knew as far back as 1991 that those tank cars had numerous of design flaws.
ReplyDeleteIf the railroads wont come clean then we need NIMBYism just like how the natives blocked off rail lines during their protests.
Every now and then, while I'm standing on a GO platform, a freight passes by with tanker cars. I like to Google the number that's on the placard of the tanker car. It's really quite interesting to see just how much crude oil (among other hazardous chemicals) pass by without us giving any thought to what's travelling past.
ReplyDeleteA little scary, too.
Same can be said for driving on any highway - do you know what's in that tanker barreling across the 401 beside you? They have coded symbols, but do I want to drive beside them, acknowledge what the symbol refers to - bio hazmat? so I can screech to a halt and take the next ramp onto the express lanes? We don't live in a bubble - 80% of consumer goods are moved by truck/rail. Having said that, I'd still like to know what my sleeping head on the quiet zone window is resting beside....
ReplyDeleteSharing the tracks with freight trains carrying explosives.
ReplyDeleteIs this GO Transit's way of giving their passengers "more bang for the buck"?