All the time, we comment how ignorant people are... if they only knew what 1 tank car of chlorine gas could do if it derailed... nevermind 70 cars of crude oil.
Then again, it might not be all that bad:
Posted on 10/20/2015 4:00:49 PM PDT by CedarDave
October 20, 2015
Norfolk Southern Railway Company and its rail operating subsidiaries (“NSR”) will no longer accept shipments of Poisonous-Inhalation-Hazard (“PIH”) commodities, effective Dec. 1, 2015. PIH commodities in transit on Dec. 1, 2015 will be delivered to destination by Dec. 31, 2015. Starting on December 1, 2015, NS will not pull PIH loads or residual cars from a facility on NS and will not accept such cars at interchange. As to traffic requiring interchange with a connecting railroad, the effective date of this cessation of service shall be accelerated as necessary to comply with any earlier cessation of service date imposed by such connecting railroad. Private car shippers required to have OT-5 authority, which includes storage plans, should make sure that their storage plans are updated. PIH commodities are those defined in 49 CFR §§ 236.1003, 171.8, 173.115, and 173.132, and include the STCCs and commodities listed below.
These service changes – effective across the entire NS rail network -- are required to comply with federal safety laws that become effective after Dec. 31, 2015, the government’s deadline for installation of PTC. Despite investment of nearly $1 billion to date, NS will not meet the deadline.
NSR is ceasing service related to PIH commodities to prevent it from violating federal safety laws that become effective after December 31, 2015. The December 1, 2015 effective date is designed to allow for all such commodities tendered prior to December 1, 2015 to clear the NSR system before January 1, 2016.
In addition, NSR has notified in writing Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express and Metra that passenger trains will not be permitted to operate on NSR track after December 31, 2015.
Norfolk Southern sincerely regrets the inconvenience that customers, passengers, and commuters will experience and hopes that Congress will act quickly and decisively to allow us to restore full access to our rail network.
Notice of Cessation of Service Effective December 1, 2015, for All Shipments of Poisonous-Inhalation-Hazard (“PIH”) Commodities
The list of banned substances follows this notice at the link. In addition to transportation of P-I-H materials, the railroad will not transport passengers on local (commuter) or long distance (Amtrak) trains after December 31.
The reason is that the railroad has not completed installation and testing of Positive Train Control equipment and software required to be operational on January 1, 2016. This and all railroads have spent many hundreds of millions of dollars to date to comply with this unfunded mandate, required as a result of the deadly passenger/freight collision at Chatsworth, CA, several years ago. The cause of that incident was the passenger train engineer texting on his cell phone and running past a red signal without stopping.
I am not sure if BammyWhammy is whacking the railroads to further collapse America and blame it on the GOPeahens or if everyone in DC is totally stoned.
islamo jihadi threat to vaporize our stocks?
There should be zero islam crap here in America.
Were laws passed by Congress or did this unfounded mandate come out of the Federale buracracy?
Details In (Gay) Train Engineer's Troubled Past Emerge ...(Chatsworth, CA train crash)
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3289731/postsMay 14, 2015 · Skip to comments. Details In (Gay) Train Engineer's Troubled Past Emerge (2008 Crash) CBS Los Angeles ^ | Septermber Posted on 05/14/2015 …
The railroads have no other choice in this case. I am happy to see them stand up and tell everyone the consequences the Nanny State regulations have had on their industry.
Lots of commodities will shift to highways if relief is not forthcoming from Congress. For example think about chlorine used to treat water for drinking, chemicals used in making plastics, pesticides, refining crude oil, etc. However, I believe that the transportation of crude oil is exempt (not compressed gas).
How does Warren Buffett profit from this?
Negatively. But Walmart, UPS, JB Hunt and intermodal shippers ought to get their goods delivered faster as there will be fewer trains.
Well, if NFS won’t, betting some other company steps up and takes the dollars associated with the shipment(s).
A knee-jerk reaction by Congress to the collision followed by bureaucratic writing of rules.
A new technology had to be developed that would work across the entire spectrum of rail routes and railroads in the US. The technology is as yet untested and when operational may be like a driverless car, reacting to set parameters with no guidance from humans. For example, to calculate stopping distance it will require train length, train weight, track speed, track conditions (percent gradient, etc.). Each train has differing characteristics and terrain varies by location. Software to consider this and the presence and movement of trains ahead and behind make programming a nightmare. To assist, the RR's are erecting communication towers along ROW to provide information to and from passing trains.
None of them will as they are all in the same boat; the technology is as yet unproven. The fines for non-compliance would cripple a railroad’s bottom line. The usual Democratic representatives/senators don’t believe that the issues are that complex and as yet unresolved and are balking at an extension. Instead of a “clean” bill, their compromise is to attach an extension onto some other bill with perks for them or their district.
In addition, the FCC permitting process is delaying the whole thing because the railroad industry needs to construct 30,000 new cell towers across the country in order to support the technology.
Oh, and this was all signed into law by some @sshole named George W. Bush.
How about the gay train engineer (Sanchez) who was texting his pubescent little buddies (train spotters) that caused the crash with 25 deaths. He was employed by a public railroad. He was a government employee. Employed by a Southern California railroad authority.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chatsworth_train_collision
So this extreme f-up by a gov’t employee is the reason Congress and the Federale gov’t bureaucracy over reacted with super costly regulations over private railroads that will impact consumers and the American economy
NS has the most extensive rails in the southeast. There’s a good chance that much of Amtrak east of the Mississippi will have to shut down, and it’s unlikely that other lines will be able to pick up the slack.
I expect they will get some kind of waiver, once the Obamarrhoids in the Dept. of Trannies figure this out.
All the time, we comment how ignorant people are... if they only knew what 1 tank car of chlorine gas could do if it derailed... nevermind 70 cars of crude oil.
Then again, it might not be all that bad:
I had that same thought about what could happen when riding Amtrak into Union Station just after sunrise one morning back in 1991.
Oh no. Amtrak shutting down in the East?
How are my wonderful (/barf) Senators Carper and Coons going to be able to get from DC to Wilmington DE every day?
The Northeast Corridor’s passenger operations are not affected by this.
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