Canada Issues New Rules for Crude-Carrying Trains

Canada issued an emergency directive late Thursday aimed at slowing crude-carrying trains traveling through urban areas and requiring increased inspections and risk assessments along key routes used for transporting dangerous goods.

The directive is the latest in a series of steps by the Canadian government to boost rail safety in the wake of a number of derailments of crude-carrying trains as crude-by-rail shipments rise.

Trains will be required to slow to a maximum of 40 miles an hour through highly urbanized areas, Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt in a statement. She also ordered more inspections and risk assessments along major routes used for the transport of goods such as crude oil and ethanol.

Canada's two biggest railroad operators-- Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.--have already restricted train speeds to a maximum of 35 miles an hour in urban locations, Transport Canada noted. In the U.S., rail operator BNSF Railway Co. in late March said it had begun slowing crude-carrying trains to 35 miles an hour in cities with more than 100,000 residents.

The Canadian directive comes as U.S. regulators urge railroads to make dramatic operating changes after a BNSF train carrying crude in Illinois derailed last month, causing large explosions after several cars ruptured and caught fire. The Federal Railroad Administration issued a safety advisory in that incident pointing to a broken wheel.

Earlier this year, two Canadian National-operated crude-carrying trains derailed in northern Ontario and investigators said their preliminary findings showed the state of the track may have played a role.

Canada has taken a number of steps to boost rail safety in the aftermath of a deadly derailment of a crude-carrying train in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, in 2013 that killed 47 people. Those include a levy to be paid by crude-by-rail shippers and tougher standards for tank cars that carry dangerous goods.

Transport Canada's emergency directive, which it said will be in effect until Aug. 17, didn't elaborate on specific requirements for increased inspections and risk assessments.

Write to Judy McKinnon at [e-mail]

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