oil by rail

The speed and scale with which the oil and rail industries created the North American oil-by-rail infrastructure was impressive. And amazingly under the radar for the most part — until the trains started derailing and blowing up — leading to articles with titles like “The Invisible Bomb Trains.”

Burlington Northern Santa Fe recently said it would proceed with plans to increase speeds for oil-by-rail unit trains in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, to 60 MPH from 30 MPH, despite opposition from local officials. The announcement came merely a week after the Obama Administration announced its proposed regulations for trains carrying oil obtained via fracking from the state's Bakken Shale basin.

Newly published information was initially submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation under the auspices of a May 7 Emergency Order, after both the federal government and the rail industry initially argued should only be released to those with a “need to know” and not the public at-large. Turns out, the public does need to know if potentially deadly trains are headed through their backyard.