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Four chemical shippers have teamed up to promote chlorine transportation safety via rail and upgrade chlorine-carrying tank cars. Yesterday, Occidental Chemical Corp. (OxyChem), The Dow Chemical Co., US Magnesium L.L.C. and Bayer MaterialScience announced they formed the Chlorine Rail Tank Car Development Coordination Panel and intend to replace their entire U.S. and Canadian chlorine tank-car fleets by 2017’s end.

The new tank cars would include enhanced safety and security features. Panel members plan to accelerate the chlorine industry’s development of new tank-car designs, which The Chlorine Institute is advancing in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada. In addition, panel members will work with Dow, Union Pacific Railroad and Union Tank Car Co. on their next-generation tank-car project.

“While we believe the current rail tank-car fleet is dependable, [we] support the development of a next-generation tank-car design that incorporates significant safety and security enhancements,” said Stephen Fitzgerald, OxyChem senior vice president of manufacturing, engineering and technology, in a prepared statement.

Enhancing chlorine transportation safety and security is a shared responsibility between shippers, railroads and governments, panel members believe. Safety and security plans should include a comprehensive review of train operations, human factors, routes and track conditions, they said.