crude by rail Archives

Commentary

February 05, 2014
News

Flawed State Dept. report twists rail safety stats

Proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline exulted while statisticians expressed dismay at the U.S. State Department’s dramatic assertion the week of Jan. 26 that failure to approve the proposed pipeline could cause an additional six persons per year to be killed by crude oil trains.

January 24, 2014
Class I

Savage expands crude oil logistics services in Western Canada

Savage, a provider of bundled supply chain management services for electric power generation, coal production, oil and gas, refining, agriculture, chemical, mining and manufacturing, has expanded its CBR (crude by rail) and truck transportation for crude oil services in Western Canada.

January 23, 2014
Regulatory

NTSB, TSB issue joint CBR safety recommendations

The National Transportation Safety Board, in coordination with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, on Jan. 23, 2014 issued a series of recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), both of which are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, to address the safety risks of crude by rail (CBR). The recommendations are not unusual or groundbreaking; that NTSB and TSB have issued them jointly is indicative of increased cooperation among U.S. and Canadian regulatory bodies regarding CBR.

January 23, 2014
Class I

AAR CEO: Room for both CBR and pipelines

Contrary to some speculation, North American railroads stand ready to do their share in supplying crude-by-rail (CBR) service to complement oil transport by pipeline, Association of American Railroads President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger said Jan. 23, 2014.

January 21, 2014
Freight Cars

RSI to SecDOT: Include us re: CBR

The Railway Supply Institute (RSI) is urging Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to include tank car manufacturers and other parties in any effort to improve tank car safety, particularly when related to crude-by-rail (CBR) developments.

January 10, 2014
Regulatory

North Dakota U.S. Senators seek CBR safety

North Dakota’s two U.S. Senators met in Washington, D.C. Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, with federal officials to advance improved freight rail safety measures in tank car construction and operation.

January 03, 2014
Regulatory

Will safety investments to protect railroads, public increase CBR costs?

A sell-off of shares in companies engaged in extracting oil from the mid-continent Bakken formation was the first indication from investors that they expect government scrutiny of the potentially explosive crude will disrupt crude-by-rail (CBR) and escalate its costs.

January 03, 2014
Regulatory

Questions cloud Lac-Mégantic crude oil test data

Why did it take so long to determine that Bakken crude is especially explosive, given that Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) six months ago analyzed samples drawn from the few tank cars that survived the July 6 explosion of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic oil train at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec? An even bigger question is why the Canadian investigatory board continues to suppress the test data.

December 31, 2013
Class I

Collision on BNSF ignites oil train fire

A wreck involving two BNSF trains, one of which was carrying crude oil, sparked a huge fire and evacuations of nearby communities in North Dakota on Monday, Dec. 30, 2013.

December 16, 2013
News

Rail service in Lac-Mégantic to resume

Freight rail service will begin traversing the right-of-way in and around Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, limited at first to trains hauling dry goods.