While the U.S. waits to see whether President Obama will approve the Keystone XL pipeline, more and more crude oil is moving by rail. After several fiery accidents in the past year, carriers are taking safety measures, hoping to garner public support for increased rail traffic from North American shale and tar-sands production centers. Most of the legacy fleet consists of old, dangerous DOT-111 tank cars that are overdue to be retrofitted or decommissioned.
Canadian Pacific (CP) and Canadian National (CN) railways recently announced a $325 surcharge on older DOT-111 cars laden with crude oil. Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) wants to take more control over crude-oil shipments by boosting its ownership of railcars. In February the U.S. carrier unveiled a $5- billion capital exenditure plan, including $1.6 billion for new rolling stock.