高危火车穿街过巷 政府为何遮遮掩掩

 

 

大型铁路公司提交的有关途径各社区所运送危险物品的种类及数量信息的季报不向公众公开。由于这些季报都是根据上一年度的年度信息汇总而成，其中的统计数据往往已经过时。
 

The quarterly reports from the major railway companies on the nature and volume of dangerous goods that passed through our communities are not released to the public. The statistics are also out-of-date as only the aggregate yearly information from the previous year is given. 

 

在我看来，政府一直对这些信息遮遮掩掩只有两个合乎逻辑的解释：

I can surmise that there are only two logical conclusions as to why this information is not divulged to the public：

 

1）（如果一些社区的危险物品运输量占比一直高于其他地区），公开此类危险物品运输量的实际占比信息可能会在一些社区引发恐慌。当地居民可能因此想要搬离，而其他人也不愿再移居到那里。

1) Revelation of the actual percentages of such dangerous and hazardous goods transported may cause panic in some communities (if they have a consistently higher percentage than others). People may want to move away from there and others will not want to move there.

 

由于加拿大国家铁路公司只透露在该公司每年在全国范围内运送的货品中平均只有10%是危险物品，人们根本无从确定有多少社区是高占比。换句话说，官员给出的10%这个数据毫无意义。在一些社区时常穿街过巷的火车中，很可能有50%或更多是运送危险物品的高危火车。有谁会愿意住在这些社区？住在那里就好像坐在定时炸弹旁边！

With only an average figure of 10% of dangerous and hazardous cargo being transported in Canada as given by CN, we can never ascertain how many communities are within a high range of percentages. In other words, the 10% figure given by officials is meaningless. There may well be some communities with 50% or more railway cars carrying dangerous and hazardous cargo passing through on a regular basis. How would you like to live in one of those communities? This is like sitting next to a ticking time bomb!

 

2）如果当局实时公布火车运送的危险物品的种类及数量信息，恐怖分子可能会将此类火车作为攻击目标。

2) If information is provided in real time as to the nature and volume of these hazardous materials being transported, terrorists may be attracted to target such shipments.

 

但是，如果有人想要确定火车所运送的危险物品的种类，他们只需要查看火车上标注的识别码，然后上网在相关列表中进行核查就可以知道火车所运送的物品种类。带上一副望远镜和一个手写板，找一个最佳观测点，在火车减速通过铁路道口时记录和破译这些识别码能有多难？

If anyone wants to identify the dangerous cargo carried on any train, all they have to do is to check the identification number stencilled on the railway cars, then go to the internet and check on a table that will show what material is being carried!” How difficult would it be for someone with a pair of binoculars and a writing pad to record and decipher this from a vintage point watching a train as it comes by and slows down over a railway crossing?  

 

设计缺陷可能引发灾难性事故

Design flaws may lead to catastrophic disaster

 

另一个令人担忧的安全问题是，易燃易爆原油（识别号#1267）多是由设计不当的老旧DOT-111型油罐车 (美国) 或 CTC-111A 型油罐车(加拿大)运送。目前这些未经加压处理的油罐车仍在加美各地穿行，数量多达30万辆。截至2013年，在加美两国所使用的油罐车中DOT-111型油罐车所占比例分别高达80%和69%。

Another safety issue is the transporting of exceptionally explosive crude oil (Identity#1267) in outdated, unsuitable DOT-111 (USA) or CTC-111A (Canada) tanker cars. These are non-pressurized rail tank cars and there are 300,000 in use. As of 2013, up to 80% of the Canadian fleet and 69% of U.S. rail tank cars were DOT-111 type. 

 

美国国家交通安全委员会在过去数年的一连串事故调查中曾多次指出，DOT-111型油罐车在发生事故时极易出现储罐失效。该委员会认为DOT-111型油罐车设计“不当”，并称它们“在运送危险物品时极易破损并造成灾难性后果。”

During a number of accident investigations over a period of years, the U.S. National Transportation Safety board (NTSB) has noted that DOT-111 tank cars have a high incidence of tank failures during accidents. The NTSB has deemed the DOT-111 design "inadequate", noting they are "subject to damage and catastrophic loss of hazardous materials.” 

 

这些油罐车所存在的诸多安全隐患包括：

What makes these tank cars so unsafe?

 

1、车身铁皮相对较薄。一旦发生脱轨罐车极易破裂，从而会导致严重泄露和大爆炸。
1. They have relatively thin skins. Upon derailment, the tanks quite often rupture causing massive spills and explosions.

 

 

2、顶部未安装防撞板。在油罐车两端安装防撞板有助于避免车身在碰撞事故中被其他轨道车辆刺穿。

2. There are no head shields. Shields at both ends of the tank car would help prevent puncturing from collisions with adjacent rail cars.

 

3、配件和阀门安全性不足。由于油罐车的配件和阀门周围只有单薄的保护层，在发生脱轨事故时这些配件和阀门常常会脱落。

3. There are not enough protection for fittings and valves. Tank cars have fittings and valves that have just a thin shield around them. Quite often in derailments, these fittings and valves are sheared off.

 

4、未有配备用于防止沸腾液体扩展蒸气爆炸的压力释放装置。

4. No Pressure Relief Devices to prevent BLEVEs. (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion)

 

虽然当局在2011年已经确立和实施新的油罐车设计标准，但新标准只适用于新出厂的油罐车；当局并未要求对现有的老旧DOT-111A型油罐车进行更新、改变用途或淘汰。

New design standards were developed and implemented in 2011. The new standards only apply to newly manufactured cars; there is no requirement to retrofit, repurpose, or retire existing DOT-111A cars built to the older design.

 

在下一篇文章中，我们将对有关高危火车穿街过巷运送危险物品的研究进行总结。

In the next article, we will summarize our research on the transportation of dangerous and hazardous goods on railway trains travelling through our towns and city.