How fast is too fast for trains? Some in Ohio are starting to ask
The likelihood of a train derailing is slim, compared to the frequency of travel. Roughly 1,000 derailments occur each year for every half-million miles of train travel nationwide, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. And the vast majority of those do not make national headlines.
But when a fireball occurs and potentially deadly chemicals are involved, spurring evacuations and public health concerns, as with the derailment in East Palestine on Feb. 3, people want to improve safety and prevent the next one from happening. And some Greater Columbus officials have already begun the process.
Watching trains barrel past intersections or backyards, one may wonder about a possible derailment, and whether freight train speed limits should be lower, especially through heavily populated areas and when hazardous cargo is being carried.
Jeff Young, director of Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security, has responded to numerous emergencies, most in his career with the Upper Arlington Fire Division, where he was chief.
He views train speeds, derailments and hazmat cargo simply: “Slower is better,” he said. “If you ask me what would be a beneficial discussion, I would tell you limiting train length and train speed.”
Trains exceeding 100 cars are increasingly common as railroads strive to maximize profits. But slowing them at crossings is a hardship for motorists and emergency vehicles.
Young says that shorter trains would offset the wait times, even at slower speeds.
Simple physics and common sense, he said, will show that a “reduced speed reduces the likelihood of high-speed derailments. The slower the speed, the less impact on the rail car. We would really like the speed to match the ability of the rail cars to survive (impact) intact.”
Stu Nicholson, executive director of All Aboard Ohio, and a longtime train buff, has a unique perspective on derailments. He’s witnessed one.
About 40 years ago, Nicholson, then a news reporter, recalled a derailment in a freight yard in Iowa.
A nearby fire had caused a train to move away for safety when one freight car slid off the rails.
“I saw box cars flying through the air even at 25 mph,” Nicholson recalled. “When one (car) leaves the track, everything else runs into it.”
Nicholson said he thinks that speed is less of a factor in derailments than most may think.
“I don’t think speed is as much of a concern as is the condition of the train and the track,” he said.
Tracks have advisory speed signs for train personnel who may slow depending on crossings, track conditions and terrain as they approach populated areas.
“As trains pass through towns with a lot of railroad crossings, that’ll have an impact on speeds,” he said.
But it’s the federal government, not local police who enforce those speeds.
While high-speed rail can exceed 200 mph, speeds along main lines through Columbus can be 40-50 mph, depending on many factors, including train length.
The Ohio Senate will hold hearings this week on the East Palestine derailment, Senate President Matt Huffman, R-lima, said last week.
While Huffman said that Ohio could not make changes because the federal government controls interstate commerce, there are already provisions for local government to do so.
Ohio law allows villages and cities to pass laws to reduce train speeds through their communities, said Josh Beasley, assistant law director in West Jefferson, Madison County.
Since 1987, the village of about 4,500 residents has had a 10 mph speed limit for trains within its villages boundaries.
According to state law, the village could have required speeds as low as low as 4 mph. But at those speeds, waiting for a long train to pass would be impractical.
West Jefferson has no crossings, relying instead on trestle overpasses, possibly explaining its low speed limit.
London, the county seat of Madison County and located about 10 miles west of West Jefferson, has no such ordinance, with engineers relying instead on federal guidelines, said Jennifer Hitt, city law director.
That means that trains may travel through the city at speeds as high as 50 mph.
“In light of recent events, I think that it would be appropriate for our city council to evaluate what would be reasonable speeds through our city,” Hitt said. She said she’ll likely propose that discussion.
About 20 trains per day pass along the main Norfolk Southern rain line in London. Casey’s Carryout & Drive Thru, located along Main Street (Ohio 665) at one of the five railroad crossings in the city, sits just 22 feet from the rail line, according to owner and London Mayor Patrick Closser.
“I am going to city council and propose this ordinance and hopefully slow these guys down a little bit,” Closser said.
An overheated bearing was the cause of the East Palestine wreck that forced the discharge of vinyl chloride from five of the freight cars along with a controlled burn.
“If you’re going slower, maybe that bearing doesn’t get overheated,” said Closser.
But slowing trains, even those with hazardous payloads, isn’t always a simple solution.
It takes at least a mile for larger trains with 100 or more cars to slow to a stop from speeds of 50 mph or faster, depending on tonnage per freight car.
And the public often doesn’t demand changes in train speeds until there’s good reason, officials say.
There haven’t been many concerns raised, said Todd Dieffenderfer, deputy director for the Columbus Department of Neighborhoods.
“Occasionally we hear concerns about trains blocking a rail crossing or horns sounding in the early hours,” Dieffenderfer said. He noted that speed might even be a benefit for those who don’t like waiting at crossings or hearing trains passed by.
Columbus City Councilman Emmanuel Remy said the city will likely take a cautious approach before proposing any new laws just because of the derailment in East Palestine.
“This is so fresh. We don’t drive policy based on knee-jerk reactions.”
While some residents whose properties border tracks in the University District have said they have become increasingly on edge, they aren’t necessarily demanding change.
Carol Talbott, property manager at the Iuka Park Commons at North Fourth Street and East Northwood Avenue, said many of her veteran tenants live closest to the tracks and “don’t seem to ever pay attention to it. They never say anything.”
Calls to City Attorney Zach Klein’s office, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Railroad Administration were not returned.
dnarciso@dispatch.com