Oil Train Safety Megathread. Updated July 30, 2023

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53. Wilmington News Journal - Delaware Online: Rail safety questioned as fuel shipments likely to go up

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Rail safety questioned as fuel shipments likely to go up

Karl Baker, The News Journal Published 12:13 p.m. ET May 26, 2017 | Updated 1:17 p.m. ET May 26, 2017

As more train cars carrying volatile fuel are likely to roll into Delaware over the next year, concerns are growing over how well the state's freight tracks are inspected for derailment-causing flaws.

Delaware is one of three states that are home to both a large oil refinery and also do not employ inspectors to oversee railroads, the News Journal has learned.

Instead, the job of regulating railroad safety is left to federal officials, whose resources are spread thin across the tens of thousands of miles of rail throughout the country. In 2016, those regulators conducted a handful of inspections on Delaware tracks.

While far fewer derailments occur today than a generation ago, freight trains are transporting more dangerous products than the foodstuffs that dominated rail shipments in previous decades, said Allen Zarembski, a railroad engineering professor at the University of Delaware.
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Contact Karl Baker at [e-mail] or [phone]. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.