Overview of Major Developments in Rail Tank Car Safety Regulations in the US and Canada, Since the 1970s

摘要

During the last few years a number of spectacular derailments have occurred in the US and Canada and resulted in the release of large quantities of ethanol fuel and petroleum crude oil. Large fires have accompanied these accidents with the occasional explosive rupture of some of the tank cars involved. The most famous of these accidents occurred in the town Lac Megantic, Quebec in July 2013 where 47 people died. The investigation report from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is still pending but these accidents involved a high number of tank cars destroyed, fractured, punctured, or otherwise damaged such that all or part of their contents was released.