Technical and Legal Aspects of Ensuring Safety of Transportation of Dangerous Goods of Hazard Classes 2 and 3 in Tank Cars

Abstract

The study has considered technical, organisational, and regulatory aspects of ensuring safety of transportation of dangerous goods by rail from the very beginnings of operation of domestic rolling stock to the present.The main type of rolling stock for transportation of dangerous goods are special tank cars, the reliability and safety of which depends on the quality of design, the level of technology development in production of components, and the perfection of interconnected structural elements.The study suggests a retrospective analysis of the most significant technological improvements in the design of tank cars and their most critical elements and considers in detail the experience of creating interdepartmental working groups with the participation of representatives of scientific organisations, design bureaus, developers, and operators of tank cars, which were engaged in an independent expert assessment of structures and units, manufacturing technologies, operation, monitoring issues, elimination of emergency situations with the subsequent development of recommendations and solutions aimed at preventing their occurrence.The paper highlights the relevance and necessity of taking appropriate organisational measures related to the design, manufacture, operation, and control of tank cars for the transportation of dangerous goods, monitoring and elimination of emergency situations, processing and amending regulatory documents, based on positive historical experience.It is proposed to consider the creation of a new generation of tank cars, a national or interstate standard in the field of monitoring the technical condition of tank cars for the transportation of dangerous goods, a permanent working group, a promising set of technical means of technical diagnostics, and a number of other possible solutions aimed at improving the safety of transportation of dangerous goods.