Train Accident Newsroom

In The Wake Of Gang Mills Chemical Train Derailment, Schumer Announces He Will Reintroduce Comprehensive Rail Safety Bill

“Increasing train speeds before we upgrade Elmira’s rail infrastructure is putting the cart before the horse,” Schumer said. “There are still serious doubts out whether or not Elmira’s rails, bridges and overpasses will be able handle the increased speeds and this accident shows we shouldn’t be taking any chances. We need a real plan to protect our communities and tougher penalties for railroad companies who disregard our safety.”

Two weeks ago, two tanker cars carrying butane derailed in Gang Mills. Though the tanker cars did not leak the hazardous chemicals, local first responders reported that the cars were highly unstable because the gravel that supports the track had been damaged. Several employees were evacuated from the scene. Had the chemicals leaked, the accident could have been very dangerous.

Schumer said that inadequate safety precautions put hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers living near rail lines at risk. According to Federal Railroad Administration statistics, there have been 63 rail accidents, 30 derailments, 14 casualties and 383 total injuries last year nationwide.

In early December, a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train derailed near the Norfolk-Southern Yard outside Buffalo. Three of the 55 cars jumped the tracks and two flipped over. Though none of the cars contained hazardous materials, had there been dangerous chemicals on board, Schumer said the accident could have been a full blown disaster.

Schumer also said that current rail safety measures and the prevalence of manual switches along rail lines provide inadequate protection for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers living near the state’s 3,695 miles of freight rail tracks. Manual switches were to blame for the deadly 2005 Graniteville, South Carolina derailment where chlorine leaked from the rail yard in to the neighboring community. The Gang Mills accident also occurred in the rail yard where the chemical tanker cars were being held.

From January to September of 2006, there were three more accidents in New York State caused by problems with the infrastructure than in the same period in 2005, an increase of 17.6%. According to the National Transportation Atlas Database, more than 2.02 million tons of chemicals are transported on New York’s rail networks every year.

To protect New Yorkers from a potential railroad disaster, Schumer today announced that he is going to reintroduce his bipartisan comprehensive railroad legislation that he wrote after the deadly Graniteville, South Carolina rail disaster in 2004. Schumer’s legislation, the Rail Crossing and Hazardous Materials Transport Act, co-sponsored by Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC) sets tougher minimum and maximum fines for fatal accidents and establishes new requirements for investigations, inspections and the use of new safety technology. The legislation aims to crack down on negligent railroad companies and require the broader use of modern technology to protect the public from more fatal crossing and hazardous materials accidents.

Schumer’s legislation would also create a new infrastructure grant program that would authorize $50 million in federal funding for railroad and localities to complete vital infrastructure improvements.