BNSF Buying 5,000 Safer Railroad Cars

The railroad BNSF said on Thursday that it intended to buy 5,000 strengthened tank cars to haul oil and ethanol in a move that would set a higher safety standard for a fleet that has experienced multiple major accidents.

The voluntary step by the railroad company, based in Fort Worth, Tex., comes as railroads in the United States and Canada are under intense pressure to improve safety for hazardous-materials shipments.  There has been a string of recent train accidents involving oil and ethanol, including a derailment in Quebec last July that killed 47 people.

A boom in domestic oil drilling and rising ethanol production have spurred a sharp increase in shipments of those materials by rail.  Much of it is being hauled by an old fleet of some 78,000 tank cars that are prone to split during accidents.

BNSF Buying 5,000 Safer Railroad Cars