http://finance.yahoo.com/news/safety-board-says-oil-train-tank-cars-urgent-211722531--finance.html?soc_src=copy
Clipped from the article:
The Association of American Railroads said in response to Monday's NTSB announcement that it supports aggressive steps to retrofit or replace the tank car fleet. "Every tank car moving crude oil today should be phased out or built to a higher standard," the group said in a statement.
Tom Simpson, president of the Railway Supply Institute, which represents tank car users and manufacturers, said companies already have spent more than $7 billion to build tens of thousands of tank cars under the voluntary standard.
Many are owned not by railroads but by the oil and ethanol producers that ship their product via rail. That's created friction between the energy and rail industries as each looks to the other to foot the bill for safety improvements (emphasis mine).
Because the NTSB has no enforcemtnt power, the recommedations in this report become suggestions and the report becomes an excercise in political excercise and a CYA supportfor the agency. The political aspects are emphasized by the very quick support it received from a couple of Congressmen who probably can't tell the difference between a tank car and a covered hopper.. The CYA aspect is simply that the NTSB will now be able to shout "Told ya so!" when the next incident occurs. Those are my opinions and I'll stick by them.
Ramrod has it right. In addition, the NTSB was one of the agencies that urged Congress to mandate PTC (a technology that didn't fully exist) on a schedule that couldn't be met at a unknown cost.
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