Toxics on the Rails: The Best Route Is Training

· Familiarizing trainees with key resources: pocket guides for chemical identification and response, material safety data sheets and the Transportation Department Emergency Response Guide.

· Putting resources and training online -- in English and Spanish.

· Developing a community guide for residents on how to respond to an emergency.

· Providing training developed by the Energy Department for transportation of radioactive materials.

· Providing security training and training on transporting weapons of mass destruction.

Communities will never be completely safe as long as they are near shipments of hazardous materials, but establishing adequate procedures for railway emergencies and having adequate training of personnel can go a long way toward decreasing the effects of a disaster, if not help in preventing one altogether.