BNSF Railway Co., the railroad owned with the aid of Warren
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is reconsidering a plan to shop for five,000
oil-tank vehicles constructed to new protection requirements after a few
customers voiced issue approximately the initiative.
“before everything all and sundry applauded us for doing
it,” BNSF Chairman Matt Rose stated today for the duration of a panel
discussion in Washington on oil-by means of-rail safety, without specifying
which concerns were raised. “We’re going to go returned and speak to our
clients and spot what they need us to do.”
BNSF has said new tanks automobiles — with thicker shells,
strengthened ends and thermal blankets to prevent overheating — might reduce
risks of using trains to haul oil. Railroads including BNSF generally don’t
personal the automobiles their locomotives haul on their tracks. as a
substitute, many tank motors belong to leasing groups which include GATX Corp.
or oil groups that rely upon trains to hold crude out of North
Dakota, which is underserved by pipelines.
“there may be a fashionable notion that this can interject a
unique type of car in a specific a part of our deliver chain,” Rose stated. “If
our clients do no longer want us on this enterprise, we’ll re-examine. We’ll do
something else.”
BNSF announced the planned purchase in February, responding
to issues about oil trains, which regularly have more than 100 tank automobiles
filled with crude, after a sequence of fiery injuries. A 2013 explosion in Lac-Megantic,
Quebec, killed 47.
U.S.
regulators have proposed protection policies that encompass thicker-shelled
tank automobiles and new pace limits for oil trains. Rose said the organization
additionally determined to put off its buy until regulators set up a
fashionable. at the same time as thicker walls are warranted, speed regulations
could harm other businesses that rely on trains to haul their merchandise, he
stated.
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