Safety and Security of Railway Hazardous Material Transportation

铁路运输为大量危险物质的运输提供了一种安全的解决方案。这包括原油、成品油、氯、乙醇和其他在北美和世界其他地方日常生活中必不可少的产品。虽然加拿大和美国不太可能建设新的管道，但现有的管道正在满负荷运行。由于疫情后被压抑的运输需求和经济重新开放，原油价格正在攀升，导致中期石油铁路运输量上升。尽管铁路运输的危险品量很大，但铁路危险品运输的总体安全记录被认为是可以接受的。然而，灾难性事故可能而且确实发生，特别是在大量危险物品运输时。例如，2013年，一列载有72节原油的火车出轨。这次事故造成47人死亡，40座建筑物和53辆汽车被毁，并对邻近的河流和湖泊水体造成了环境破坏，使其成为加拿大历史上最严重的铁路灾难之一。虽然拉克-姆萨杰尼克灾难的原因与安全有关，但它强调了如果运输危险品的火车成为恐怖分子袭击的目标，可能会发生的破坏。事实上，加拿大政府安全专家进行的战略风险评估表明，危险物品的铁路运输很容易受到恐怖分子的滥用或破坏，这种恐怖事件的不利影响可能是巨大的。该研究计划概述了两个主要主题和五个互补的研究目标，这些研究目标将提高铁路提供安全可靠的危险品运输的能力。特别是第一个主题（包括三个目标），提高铁路危险品运输的安全性，防止自然因素或人为错误造成的随机事故。第二个主题（包括两个目标）有助于在面临蓄意和恐怖袭击时确保铁路危险品运输的安全。这些研究成果将通过会议演讲、会议、专业和学术文章传播给学术同行和行业合作伙伴。虽然该提案的地理区域是北美（特别是加拿大西部和美国），但其结果将在全球范围内有用。已与加拿大运输部进行了初步接触，并已开始初步收集数据。此外，我是INFORMS铁路应用部门（RAS）的活跃成员，并定期参加他们的会议。RAS组织的活动为我提供了获取美国危险品运输信息的绝佳机会。从这项研究项目中开发的工具和技术将导致更稳定和可持续的铁路危害，这将保护我们的环境，并在未来几年使加拿大经济受益。

Rail transportation provides a safe solution for moving large quantities of hazardous materials known as hazmat. This includes crude oil, refined oil products, chlorine, ethanol, and other products which are essential to daily life across North America and elsewhere in the world. While construction of new pipelines in Canada and the U.S. is unlikely, the existing pipelines are running at their capacity. Crude oil prices are climbing due to the pent-up demand for transportation and re-opening of economies in the aftermath of the pandemic, leading to elevated oil-by-rail volumes in the medium term. Despite high volume of hazmat transported by rail, the overall safety record of rail hazmat transport is considered acceptable. However, catastrophic accidents can and do occur, especially when large volumes of hazmat are transported. For instance, in 2013, the Lac-Mégantic disaster involved a derailed train hauling 72 carloads of crude oil. The impact was 47 deaths, destruction of 40 buildings and 53 vehicles, and environmental damages to adjacent river and lake waterbodies, making it one of the worst rail disasters in Canadian history. Although the cause of the Lac-Mégantic disaster was safety-related, it underscores the devastation that could occur if trains transporting hazmat were targeted by terrorists. In fact, strategic risk assessments conducted by Government of Canada security experts have indicated that the transportation of hazmat by rail is vulnerable to misuse or sabotage by terrorists, and the adverse impacts of such a terrorist event could be significant. This research program outlines two main themes and five complementary research objectives that will advance railways' capability in providing safe and secure hazmat transportation. In particular, the first theme (including three objectives) enhances the safety of railway hazmat transportation against random accidents caused by natural factors or human errors. The second theme (including two objectives) contributes to the security of railway hazmat transportation when facing deliberate and terrorist attacks. This research outcomes will be disseminated to academic peers and industry partners via conference presentations, meetings, and professional and academic articles. While the geographical area of interest for this proposal is North America (in particular, Western Canada and the U.S.), the results will be useful at a global scale. Initial contacts with Transport Canada have been made and preliminary data collection has commenced. Also, I'm an active member of Rail Application Section (RAS) of INFORMS and regularly attend their meetings. The events organized by RAS provide me with excellent opportunities to access information regarding the U.S. hazmat transportation. The tools and techniques developed from this research program will lead to more stable and sustainable railway hazmat that will protect our environment and benefit the Canadian economy in the years to come.