MM&A, employees face negligence charges

The bankrupt Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MM&A) and three of its former employees are to appear in court in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Tuesday, May 13, 2014, to face 47 charges of criminal negligence causing death in the runaway derailment and explosion last July 6 of a training carrying oil from North Dakota.

DOT: Report Bakken CBR moves; upgrade gear

State and local emergency responders won the right to know about individual movements of Bakken crude oil in an emergency order issued late Wednesday, May 7, 2014 by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

CSX CBR train derails in Virginia; no injuries reported

CSX workers and others on Thursday, May 1, 2014, continued to assess the damage caused by a crude-by-rail (CBR) consist that derailed near downtown Lynchburg, Va., Wednesday afternoon, resulting in at least 12 derailed cars, three-to-four tank cars rupturing, burning oil, and oil slicks in the James River.

Transport Canada toughens CBR safety regs

Trains carrying 20 cars or more of crude oil or ethanol must not exceed 50 mph under a new directive issued by Transport Canada on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, and that limit may be lowered for some locations after specific risk assessments for particular urban populations and sensitive assets such as water sources.

NSC’s new crude oil “slick”

National Steel Car, which has been building freight cars in Hamilton, Ont., for 102 years, has entered the railroad tank car market with a 31,800-gallon DOT-111 “slick” (non-jacketed, non-coil) general-purpose (non-pressure) model built to AAR P-1577/CPC-1232 safety standards with half-head end shields and AAR-required rollover protection.

DOT-111 phase-out highlights CN hazmat safety initiatives

CN “continues to take significant steps to strengthen our railway’s Safety Management System, with the goal of improving the safety of transportation of dangerous goods,” says President and CEO Claude Mongeau.

TSB: Lac-Mégantic crude as explosive as gasoline

The crude oil aboard the ill-fated train that destroyed downtown Lac-Mégantic was as explosive as gasoline, Canada’s Transportation Safety Board revealed on March 6, 2014, eight months to the day after the catastrophe that killed 47.

Greenbrier cites 2Q tally of 5,600 railcars

The Greenbrier Cos., Inc. said Monday, March 3, 2014 it has received “new orders in the second fiscal quarter ended February 28, 2014 for 5,600 railcar units valued at approximately $460 million.”

Most Bakken crude can move under FRA Emergency Order

The most onerous burdens under the Emergency Order issued by the Federal Railroad Administration Feb. 25 fall upon crude shippers and transloaders. The earlier regulatory vagueness concerning the classification of crude oil has now been sharpened by specific prescriptions for evaluating “flash point; boiling point; corrosivity to steel and aluminum; presence and content of compounds such as sulfur/hydrogen sulfide; percentage presence of flammable gases; and the vapor pressure at 50ºC.”

DOT issues CBR Emergency Order

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Feb. 25, 2014 issued an Emergency Order requiring crude oil shippers to test product from the Bakken region to ensure the proper classification of crude oil before it is transported by rail, while also prohibiting the transportation of crude oil in the lowest-strength Packing Group. DOT’s action marks the fourth Emergency Order or Safety Advisory on crude oil in the past seven months.

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