Cars

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is offering states $10 million in competitive grants to improve railroad track and highway-rail crossings.

New regulations in the United States and Canada requiring a total changeout of crude oil tank cars will be costly for the rail and energy industries given the relative short time span for making the transition, Fitch Ratings said.

New regulations in the United States and Canada requiring a total changeout of crude oil tank cars will be costly for the rail and energy industries given the relative short time span for making the transition, Fitch Ratings said.

A group of U.S. Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would accelerate the phase-out of older rail cars that transport crude oil by incentivizing the process with a tax credit for companies that make upgrades.

A group of U.S. Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would accelerate the phase-out of older rail cars that transport crude oil by incentivizing the process with a tax credit for companies that make upgrades.

The Transportation Board of Canada (TSB) said it is concerned about a plan by regulators to phase out the use of DOT-111 tank cars for transporting crude oil, suggesting that 2025 isn’t soon enough as it investigates a derailment and fire that occurred this month in Ontario.

Canadian regulators have proposed introducing a new class of tank cars to transport flammable liquids by rail, requiring shippers to begin phasing out what they consider to be the most dangerous rolling stock for crude oil in two years for a complete transition by 2025.

A freight train operated by the BNSF Railway Co. and loaded with crude oil from the Bakken Shale derailed and caught fire near Galena, IL, on Thursday. There were no injuries.

Fire continued to burn days after 27 oil tankers, part of a 109-car CSX Corp. train carrying Bakken Shale crude oil, derailed and 19 of the cars exploded on Feb. 16 in southern West Virginia (see Shale Daily, Feb. 17).