Derailment after derailment. They just keep happening.

Since early February, there have been at least six train derailments in North America carrying crude from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale. These accidents have sparked increased calls from citizens, the rail industry and lawmakers for the federal government to increase safety regulations.

To keep up with these incidents and new safety regulations, PublicSource provides a roundup of stories every Friday.

 

What’s safer — pipeline or rail? 

Ahead of an expected rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline by President Obama, a new study finds transporting crude oil is much safer by pipeline than rail, according to The Vancouver Sun.

 

Oil prices falling = bad news for rail companies 

The rail industry is getting bulldozed as oil prices fall to their lowest in months and coal shipments decrease, according to Oilprice.com.

 

Preparing for future train disasters

Firefighters in small communities across the nation continue to prepare for the worst-case scenario — a 100-plus car crude oil train exploding in their towns, according to the small newspapers in Iowa and California.

 

Reach Natasha Khan at nkhan@publicsource.org. Follow her on Twitter @khantasha.

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Natasha is PublicSource's creative director. She runs the organizations visuals team, edits and produces interactive graphics, data visualizations and web packages for PublicSource. She manages the website...