Manifest Destiny: New study lays bare the dangers of 'long trains'

Phoenix, Arizona: On Thursday, June 8, 2023 a BNSF train derailed just east of Williams in Coconino County, Arizona, heavily damaging 20 freight cars that were carrying new automobiles. And while no hazardous materials were involved, and no one was hurt, the accident placed a harsh spotlight on the growing safety concerns regarding long freight trains.

The Williams incident came close on the heels of the massive derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which resulted in an environmental catastrophe, the effects of which will tragically unfold over the coming years. The problem, mainly, seems to center around trains carrying mixed cargo or 'manifest trains'.

What are 'manifest trains'?

Unlike Bulk carriers that carry just one type of cargo, Manifest trains are made up of mixed rail cars carrying various types of cargo and are invariably long.

Now a National Academies study, entitled 'Long Freight Trains: Ensuring Safe Operations, Mitigating Adverse Impacts' has called out railroad operators and governing bodies over the way these 'long trains' are operated.

The report said: "During the past two decades, US freight railroads have been operating increasingly longer trains. Based on data the US Government Accountability Office [GAO] reported in 2019 that the average train length had increased by about 25% from 2008 to 2017. By 2021 some trains had reached a length of almost 14,000 ft (2.6 miles) and the length of about 25% of all trains exceeded 7,500 ft (1.5 miles)."

So why use long trains in the first place? According to the study railroads began adopting long trains to reduce costs and increasing operating efficiency. "By making trains longer—and especially by lengthening manifest trains that consist of different types of rail cars—railroads could reduce the number of train starts, crews, and locomotives to move the same amount of tonnage as moved by more shorter trains," the study claimed. 

After the derailment of a 178-car freight train in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in August 2017, the ensuing National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation raised concerns about how the 10,612-ft-long (2-mile-long) train had been composed and how hand brakes were used to control speeds on descending grade.

NTSB also questioned the railroad’s decision to place at the front of the train blocks of empty rail cars, which were derailed by the heavier, loaded cars pushing from behind as the train descended a grade. 

So how is this problem solved? The study acknowledges that manifest trains create particular operational challenges due to the mixture of rail car types, designs, sizes, and weights, and states that railroads must pay close attention during the makeup of manifest trains.

Equally importantly the report emphasizes railroad employees' roles in long train safety, and raises concerns about the amount and quality of training they receive for safely operating long manifest trains and the challenges they face assembling the trains correctly.

According to the study, concerns included the problems crew members can face maintaining communications with one another while maneuvering long trains at yards and during train inspections and repairs, which take more time to perform as train length increases.

"The potential for error from crew member miscommunication and fatigue was also raised as a concern when the time to walk the train increases," the report added.  

The study's recommendations in brief

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) should revise the Risk Reduction Program (RRP) rule to require railroads to address all major operational changes in their RRPs in an explicit and comprehensive manner.

The FRA should seek from Congress the resources required to hire and train a team of auditors skilled in reviewing safety management systems to regularly and critically assess the completeness and quality of each railroad’s RRP and its key components.

The FRA should stand up separate working groups that are tasked with evaluating and providing advice on methods and technologies that can be implemented to improve the capabilities, competencies, and training that train crews and other railroad employees require for the safe operation, assembly, and inspection of trains as they become longer; and technological means and performance standards for ensuring that train crew members have the capability to communicate, including while inspecting and riding equipment, in a manner that can be continuously maintained and does not create personal safety hazards.

Congress should authorize and direct the FRA to obtain data on an ongoing basis from railroads on blocked highway-rail grade crossings. 

Congress should give the FRA authority to impose financial penalties on railroads for problematic blocked crossings.