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.

 

PA rail safety report released 

A report commissioned by Gov. Tom Wolf released this week put forth 27 recommendations to decrease the risks of crude oil trains traveling through the state, including reducing the speed in big cities to 35 mph, according to PublicSource.

 

Could crude oil trains reroute around Pittsburgh?

The two major railroads are looking at possibly bypassing Pittsburgh when mapping out future crude oil train routes, a state railroad expert said on a call with reporters this week, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times. 

 

Judge orders railroads to give up information on crude oil train routes in Maryland

After the federal government ordered railroads to release information on crude oil routes in May 2014, many states decided to make the information public, including Pennsylvania, after news organizations pressed state officials. Maryland was the only state the railroads took to court to block a release and a judge ruled this week that the data should not be kept from the public, according to McClatchy Newspapers.

 

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...