Legislator: Cap train length for safety

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A state senator says railroads are running trains too long to be safe – sometimes three miles. Rob Kupec, D-Moorhead, introduced a bill to limit trains to 8,500 feet. That’s about 1-1/2 miles. “Hundreds of trains travel across Minnesota every day, many carrying cargo that could be hazardous if an accident occurred,” Kupec said. The longer a train, the longer it takes to stop in an emergency and the greater the risk to communities and trackside residents, he said. Major lines, including Burlington Northern, Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific, have found new economies in what the rail industry calls “distributive power” – remote controlled locomotives pushing and pulling mid-train as well as pushers at the back. The technology allows what formerly would be two or three trains to be hooked together into a single unit. It’s meant vastly more cargo tonnage and smaller crews.

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