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Title:

Comparative Risks of Transporting Hazardous Materials by Unit Train and Manifest Train

Accession Number:

01661420

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

This paper aims to provide a preliminary understanding of the risks associated with transporting hazardous material by unit trains versus manifest trains. In this analysis, the same amount of hazardous material was transported via unit and manifest trains over the same hypothetical route, but with different numbers of tank cars in the manifest train consists. Using the Multiple Tank Car Release (MTCR) model, three metrics of risk (number of tank cars derailed, number of tank cars releasing, and quantity released) were used to compare different scenarios. The result shows that the risk per trip for unit trains was greater because there are more tank cars per consist. However, accounting for the fact that fewer train trips are required per tank car shipped for unit trains, the annual risk for unit trains corresponds to a low frequency, high consequence risk profile, where the expected value and variance of annual risk measured in terms of the previously mentioned metrics are higher.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AT040 Standing Committee on Transportation of Hazardous Materials.

Report/Paper Numbers:

18-05444

Language:

English

Authors:

Li, Weixi
Barkan, Christopher P L

Pagination:

7p

Publication Date:

2018

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; References; Tables

Subject Areas:

Freight Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-05444

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Jan 8 2018 11:23AM