CSX gives New York, New Jersey access to security system

CSX gives New York, New Jersey access to security system    Officials in New York and New Jersey will have a better handle on what sort of hazardous chemicals are moving through their states by railroad and where it is at any moment under an agreement with CSX Transportation.
   Under a one-year pilot program unveiled today, security personnel from both states will have access to a CSX computer system that tracks railcars by radio transponder as they move around the region and links that to information about the contents of each car.
   Speaking at a press conference in Jersey City, Richard Canas, New Jersey director of homeland security; and Michael Balboni, New York deputy secretary to the governor for public safety, said the system would help police, firefighters or other emergency crews in the event of a terrorist incident or accident.
   They also said that by knowing where the most dangerous chemicals move or are stored, they will better know how to deploy police or other security personnel, or where to spend funds for security improvements like fencing or sensors.
   Balboni said he hoped the agreement with CSX would become a template for similar programs with other railroads.
   David Brown, vice president and chief transportation officer at CSX Transportation, said the Network Operations Workstation system also used to track cargo on the Conrail short line tracks in the New York region, which includes the well-known Chemical Coast Line that runs along the New Jersey Turnpike and serves many of the refineries and chemical plants along the Arthur Kill.
   The program comes in the wake of criticism of CSX after several derailments in the past year, including an incident in March in which a CSX freight train hauling chemicals derailed in Oneida, N.Y. Contents of several cars ignited, sending a fireball into the sky seen from miles away and thousands of people were evacuated.
   Balboni said the agreement was not a direct response to that incident.