WASHINGTON — To prevent train accidents like last month’s fatal wreck in Aiken County, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday introduced a bill to beef up safety along the nation’s rail lines.

“We’re trying to learn from the experience of Graniteville and other accidents,” the Republican from Seneca said. “Fundamental change must occur.”

On Jan. 6, nine people died, about 550 were injured and 5,400 were evacuated when a moving freight train slammed into a parked train, releasing plumes of toxic chlorine gas.

It was the nation’s worst train accident involving a chemical spill since 1978.

Major provisions of Graham’s bill would:

• Increase the $550 minimum fine for violations involving the transport of hazardous material to $5,000

• Increase the $27,500 maximum fine for gross negligence in hazmat violations to $2.5 million

• Mandate a one-year national review of railroad lines still using manual switches to determine where automatic switches should be installed

• Require the inspection of rail cars every 15 years

• Order the Federal Railroad Administration to review all 250,000 rail crossings in the United States and rank the 10,000 crossings most in need of safety improvement

Graham acknowledged that implementing the reforms would be expensive, but he could not provide an estimate of the costs.

“But when you have accident after accident and devastation to the economy,” he said, “the money is well worth it.”

Railway experts say the lack of electronic signals — as opposed to manual switches — was a major contributing factor in the crash.

The legislation, which Graham is co-sponsoring with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also would direct Congress to authorize money for states to make improvements to hazardous crossings.

Last year, a less comprehensive railway safety bill passed the U.S. Senate but did not come before the U.S. House.

From January 1999 to October 2004, 87 South Carolinians lost their lives in rail accidents, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Nationally, 4,689 people lost their lives in rail accidents over the same period.

Railway industry officials said Tuesday they need time to dissect Graham’s bill before weighing in.

“We appreciate Senator Graham and Senator Schumer’s interest in rail security,” said Kelly Donley, executive director for outreach at the Washington-based Association of American Railroads. “We’re looking at the legislation and need to analyze its potential impact on the industry.”

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C, whose district covers half of Aiken County, “hopes railroad organizations will make changes on their own so additional federal regulation will not be needed,” his spokeswoman, Emily Lawrimore, said.

Graham said he understands that the industry and some in Congress will balk at much of what he is proposing, and he hopes future agreements between government and industry to improve safety might make the bill unnecessary.

“Some will say we’re over-reaching,” he said. “There will be push-back.”

He won’t get much push-back from Graniteville, though.

“If there is anything that can reduce the chances of another accident like the one we had here, I support it,” said Aiken County EMS coordinator Phil Clarke.

Phil Napier, chief of the Graniteville-Vaucluse-Warrenville Volunteer Fire Department, said that, in addition to the people killed in the derailment, five more died in November at a Graniteville crossing when their van was struck by a train.

“We’ve had 14 fatalities here in a matter of three months. No community should have to go through the devastation and death we have in the past few weeks.

“We’ll support anything that can be done to prevent these kinds of incidents.”

Reach Markoe at (202) 383-6023 or lmarkoe@krwashington.com. Reach Wilkinson at (803) 771-8495 or jwilkinson@thestate.com.