CSX Brings Emergency Training to NJ Firefighters as Crude Oil Shipments Rise

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October 6, 2018

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by Curtis Tate (North Jersey Record) CSX, the railroad that operates trains carrying millions of gallons of crude oil and ethanol through New Jersey every week, rolled out its Safety Train on Wednesday to help first responders prepare for an incident.

The train includes the most common types of tank cars firefighters are likely to encounter, including one that carries flammable liquids and others that typically carry propane or chlorine.

The Safety Train also includes a classroom inside a converted boxcar and a flatcar used to demonstrate how to close leaking valves.

More than 99.9 percent of hazardous materials shipments by rail arrive at their destination without incident, according to industry data.

But the Safety Train provides a teaching tool to local officials in the event that something does go wrong.

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CSX also plans to resume sponsoring an intensive three-day course at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s rail testing facility in Pueblo, Colorado. That training includes a derailment and fire simulated with real railcars. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also pays for firefighters to attend the Pueblo course.

For those who can’t take the time off to travel, though, the Safety Train brings the classroom to communities. CSX has two such trains, and they travel throughout the 23 states in the railroad’s network.

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Mike Austin, CSX’s director of hazardous materials, said the company has built a relationship with departments across the country. It helps make it easier to coordinate when there is an incident.

“We get to meet the folks today, not at 2 a.m.” when something happens, he said. READ MORE

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