Midwest freight woes spread to Northstar rail

Minnesota’s Metro Transit on Monday, Feb. 24, 2014 urged riders of Northstar Line commuter service not to board their trains to head for the Twin Cities, citing delays caused by heavy freight rail traffic caused by ongoing congestion problems.

Freight railroads implement voluntary CBR safety initiatives

North America’s Class I railroads have embarked on a rail operations safety initiative that will institute new voluntary operating practices for moving crude oil by rail. The initiative, which follows consultations between railroads represented by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), including the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), covers steps related to crude by rail operations. Additional issues relating to the safe transport of crude oil, such as tank car standards and proper shipper classification of crude oil, are being addressed separately.
Commentary

API emphasizing collaboration, not confrontation

Following the recent, unrelated series of crude oil train derailments that resulted in fires, explosions, and in the case of Lac-Mégantic, tragedy and death, CBR (crude by rail) has come under intense scrutiny by regulatory and safety agencies, legislators, the media, the public, the oil industry, and the rail industry itself. Tank car safety standards as well as CBR operating practices—including those at origin and destination points—are being evaluated to determine if changes need to be made to improve safety, and what those changes should be.

BNSF taking bids on 5,000 oil tank cars

BNSF Railway, the industry’s largest transporter of crude oil, announced on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014, plans to purchase its own fleet of up to 5,000 crude oil tank cars that will be built to safety standards exceeding the industry’s voluntary CPC-1232 specification for DOT 111 hazmat cars. The CPC-1232 standard has applied to all DOT 111 cars built since October 2011.

Irving Oil sets tank car conversion plan

Saint John, New Brunswick-based Irving Oil Ltd. announced plans Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, to voluntarily convert its older DOT-111 tank cars used in crude-by-rail (CBR) business—which has soared in recent years—to meet higher recommended safety standards by the end of April.

CBR: CN, CP charging more for pre-CPC-1232 tank cars

CN is charger a higher rate to move crude oil in DOT-111 tank cars built prior to October 2011, when Association of American Railroads CPC (Casualty Prevention Circular)-1232 safety standards took effect. These standards include head shields, top-fitting rollover protection, half-inch-thick normalized tank steel (for unjacketed applications), double-shelf couplers, and bottom skid protection.

BNSF engineer trainee lauded for fast response to CBR wreck

Geoff Andersen, a BNSF locomotive engineer trainee, has been credited with preventing the spread of fire and explosions that occurred shortly after a BNSF crude oil train wrecked in Casselton, N.D., in December 2013.

The crude oil challenge

If history records 2012 as the year when modern crude by rail (CBR) came into its own, 2013 will be remembered as a time of a nearly two-fold increase in that business, and as a time for examining more closely the means by which it’s handled.

Greenbrier to offer new-gen tank cars, retrofits

The Greenbrier Companies announced on Feb. 5, 2014 that it will design a new-generation tank car for rail transport of hazardous freight, including flammable crude oil and ethanol, “that can better withstand the additional demands associated with operating unit trains” and “respond to safety criticisms of the existing legacy fleet of older DOT-111 tank cars.” Greenbrier is also introducing retrofits for tank cars already in service or now being produced, “significantly enhancing the safety of existing cars.”

First hazmat fines levied against North Dakota crude loaders

The first enforcement actions against North Dakota tank car loaders for misclassifying Bakken crude oil were announced Feb. 4 by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The notices of violation and attendant fines totaling $93,000 were issued against Hess Corp., Whiting Oil and Gas Corp., and Marathon Oil Co.
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