Train accident uptick

The Federal Railroad Administration is investigating the May 23 CSX train derailment in Chattanooga, and officials also may look at the steadily rising number of accidents here.

"I know we are investigating at least one (accident in Chattanooga)," said Warren Flatau, spokesman of the Federal Railroad Administration. "I am confident (the increase) is something they have looked at and will continue to look at."

The derailment, which happened at about 4:30 p.m. near the 3200 block of Broad Street, was at least the third in Chattanooga in 2010. A fourth happened this year in Rossville, Ga. Additionally, a train and car collided Thursday morning at 4600 Sanabel Lane in Hamilton County.

There have been at least the seven train accidents, including derailments, in Hamilton County this year.

The Federal Railroad Administration's train accident database, which is online but only complete through Feb. 28, 2010, records five accidents just in the first two months of this year.

Mr. Flatau said the rise in local accidents could be the result of "happenstance or circumstance."

He said rail frequency analyses look to determine if accidents "are related, if there is anything systemic going on, or even localized."

Inspectors check infrastructure and equipment, but also records of gate, track and yard maintenance and employee hours, he said.

CSX and Norfolk Southern officials said they could not comment on the increase and frequency of accidents without further study of those records.

Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband questioned the accuracy of the records, saying he believes most of the incidents listed are "very minor" and some may be duplicated.

"Norfolk Southern has been the safest railroad in the country for 21 years. Safety is our No. 1 priority," he said.

CSX spokeswoman Carla Groleau said the railroad is continuing its own investigation of the May 23 derailment.

"We conduct pretty thorough internal investigations, and we don't have a cause yet," she said.

Last week, company officials said they had narrowed the cause of the CSX derailment to three possibilities: a faulty track, overly weighted cars or crew error.

That uncertainty played into federal rail regulators' decision to investigate.

"If a cause is not known at the outset, we will dispatch inspectors who are also trained investigators, and based upon what they find, a decision is made whether they will do a full investigation," Mr. Flatau said.

"We tend to investigate the most serious or consequential events: Those involving hazardous materials, those involving human factors, passenger trains, multiple fatalities, major impacts on rail operations," he said.

One of the cars knocked off the tracks included one carrying 100 pounds of ferrous sulfate, used as fertilizer.

Dodging the bullet

Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman Bruce Garner said rail accidents can pose a risk.

"It's unfortunate that we've had two fairly serious derailments since the first of the year, but we feel like we've been lucky even with that," he said. "Trains very often carry large quantities of hazardous materials, and in both of the cases we've had there were no serious releases of hazardous substances that threatened the public or caused even major evacuations."

There were close calls.

In the Jan. 29 derailment of 30 cars of a Norfolk Southern train around the foot of Lookout Mountain and blocking Cummings Highway, a railcar landed on a propane tank, Mr. Garner recalled.

"That caused us some concern because of the potential for explosion," he said. "Fortunately, the firefighters and the railroad personnel were able to mitigate that problem before it turned into something worse."

Trains and rail cars carry far larger quantities of hazardous materials than trucks, he added.

Mr. Garner said one example of how bad a train derailment can get occurred in Graniteville, S.C., in January 2005.

There, two Norfolk Southern trains collided at about 2:40 a.m., and a tank car ruptured - releasing at least 90 tons of chlorine gas.

Nine people in Graniteville died, 250 were treated for chlorine exposure, and 5,400 residents within a mile of the crash site were forced to evacuate for nearly two weeks while hazardous materials teams decontaminated the area.

Continue reading by following these links to related stories:

Article: Derailment causes narrowed

Article: Police search for pedestrian possibly hit by train

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