Establishing derailment profiles by position for corridor shipments of dangerous goods

Abstract

The position of railcars carrying dangerous goods in a train can affect their involvement in a derailment. A model is presented, which minimizes the number of cars carrying dangerous goods derailing for different marshalling strategies and rail corridor conditions. An application of the model to the Sarnia–Toronto rail corridor is presented. The results of this analysis suggest that marshalling strategies for cars carrying dangerous goods need to be sensitive to corridor conditions that affect the causes of train derailments. Current Canadian Transport Commission directives governing the placement of cars carrying dangerous goods along a train were found to be ineffective in reducing their derailment probability when compared to a low-cost unregulated option. Effective marshalling strategies can substitute for speed controls on the shipment of dangerous goods, resulting in a similar or improved derailment profiles and lower operating costs. Key words: dangerous goods, derailment, rail, marshalling, railcars.