多伦多铁路事故后 重审加国铁路安全措施（I）

 

 

2013年7月6日，一辆运载原油的74节货运列车在无人值守的情况下从坡度为1.2%的山坡上滑下，脱轨冲进魁省的Lac-Mégantic镇，导致多节油罐车发生大爆炸，事故造成47人死亡。

On July 6, 2013, an unattended 74-car freight train carrying crude oil rolled down a 1.2% grade hill and derailed in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, resulting in the fire and explosion of multiple tank cars and the death of forty-seven (47) people. 

 

这起事故是加国史上第四大惨烈列车事故，也是非客运列车死伤最惨重的事故。同时这也是1867年加拿大联邦成立以来死伤最惨重的列车事故，在此之前只有1864年（魁省）St-Hilaire客运列车惨祸的死亡人数超过这起事故，在那起惨祸中共有99 人丧生。

It is the fourth-deadliest rail accident in Canadian history, and the deadliest involving a non-passenger train. It is also the deadliest rail accident since Canada’s confederation in 1867. Only the St-Hilaire passenger train (Quebec) disaster in 1864 had a higher death toll of 99 people. 

 

由于许多居民原本就担心穿越其市镇的危险有害物品运输列车会对他们自身的安全构成威胁，尤其是一些居民的后院就紧邻这些铁路，Lac-Mégantic列车事故导致民众的担忧情绪再度加剧。

This Lac-Mégantic train accident once again heightens the awareness of concerned citizens who want to question their own safety in light of the dangers posed by the transport of dangerous and hazardous goods through their cities and towns, sometimes next to their own backyards. 

 

虽然铁路曾是向加国边远小城镇及沿途社区运送原材料和各种商品的大动脉，但现在大部分地区都已经拥有四通八达的高速公路，并且有许多地区已经发展为主要城市中心，自治市和人口稠密的城市。

While the railway was once the artery for delivering of raw materials and completed goods around Canada to remote small towns and communities along its tracks, most of these places are connected by highways now. Many of these places have also grown into major urban centres, municipalities, and populous cities. 

 

目前，已经有越来越多列车用于运送大量化学品、危险液体和石油产品。加拿大国家铁路公司的一名代表曾称该公司每年在全国范围内运送的所有货品中约有10%是危险物品，但运输量因地区而异。可当局从未公开过相关官方数据。

Today, railway cars are increasingly carrying large quantities of chemicals and hazardous liquids and oils as part of its cargo load. A CN Rail representative once stated that on a national level, about 10 per cent of all products moved by CN each year are dangerous goods, but the number varies by community.  Official figures are never published.

 

加国铁路目前运送的危险物品究竟有多少种？经过研究我发现符合铁路运输标准的在列固体、石油、 液体和气体产品种类超过一千种。因此一旦发生列车脱轨并引发油罐车大爆炸，各种致命化学反应导致的严重后果可想而知。此外，我相信也从未对灾难性事故中各种危险品“混合物”产生的化学反应作过记载。 中国天津最近发生的化学品爆炸就是一个惨痛的教训，在这起事故中灭火不当引发二次爆炸是导致许多消防员牺牲的主要原因之一。

How many kinds of hazardous materials are we transporting on Railways these days? My research showed more than one thousand different types of solids, oils, liquids, and gases are listed and qualified for railway transportation. Just imagine the kinds of lethal chemical reactions that will result when these dangerous and hazardous cargoes are mixed together in a railway derailment and subsequent tanker rupture and fires. I am also sure no one has ever cataloged the chemical reactions for each and every combination of a hazardous materials “cocktail” in the event of disasters. We learned from the recent chemical explosion disaster in Tianjin, China that explosion resulting from improper dousing of fires was one of the root causes for the loss of their many firefighters. 

 

居民之所以渴望了解相关统计数据，是因为他们想要根据运送危险物品的列车车厢占比对给自身带来的危险性进行评估。此外，他们也希望能得到当地政府的有关对此类事件拥有适当的应急计划和回应措施的承诺。

So why are residents anxious to know about these statistics? They want to assess the relative level of danger for themselves based on the percentages of railcars on a train carrying hazardous goods. They also hope to receive assurances from their local governments on their corresponding preparedness for proper emergency planning and responses. 

 

但政府并未公开相关信息。根据加拿大运输部的一项新规定，注册过的市政府将会收到大型铁路公司提交的季报（不向公众公开），从中可了解铁路公司在过去一年途径其社区运送的危险物品的种类及数量信息。

The Government is not giving out public information. Instead, the municipalities registered will receive a quarterly report (not to be made public) from the major railway companies on the nature and volume of dangerous goods that passed through their communities in the previous year, according to a new Transport Canada regulation. 

 

然而，按照加拿大运输部第32号保护指令条款#3 (c)款规定，如果应急官员并不赞同在“法律允许的最大范围内”对相关信息加以保密，铁路部门无需向应急官员提供任何信息，哪怕是非常有限的事后数据。

However, railroads are not required to provide Emergency Personnel Officials with even this meager and after-the-fact data if, as stipulated in item#3 subsection (c) of Transport Canada’s Protective Direction No.32 – the relevant Official has not agreed to keep the information confidential to the "maximum extent permitted by law”. 

 

在下一篇文章中，我们将继续探讨有关火车运送危险有害物品信息保密的谬论。

In the next article, we will explore the fallacy on the cloak of secrecy on transport of dangerous and hazardous goods by train.