Safety and Security of Railway Hazardous Material Transportation

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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.