Canada, US Agencies Urge Fast Action On Oil-By-Rail Safety

Already Under Discussion

Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx have already held discussions about new safety standards for the DOT-111 cars.

In 2012, the NTSB recommended that the DOT-111 cars be retrofitted or phased out. Raitt said earlier this month that new standards would be introduced fairly soon, and North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said Foxx had promised tougher standards "in weeks, not months."

North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple told Reuters this week the new standards were needed immediately.

Last month, a 106-car BNSF Railway Co train carrying crude oil eastward crashed into a derailed grain train near Dalrymple's hometown of Casselton, North Dakota.

In early November, two dozen cars on a 90-car oil train derailed in rural Alabama, erupting into flames that took several days to fully extinguish.

Canada's TSB said on Thursday that investigators had found that the older DOT-111 cars in the Lac-Megantic crash experienced significant ruptures even at slower speeds, based on their analysis of the cars at the rear of the train that suffered tank shell and head damage.

The U.S. NTSB recommended on Thursday that regulators require expanded route planning for shipping dangerous materials to avoid populated and other sensitive areas.


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