Tanker cars pulled off the rails

Ottawa is pulling five-thousand old tanker cars off the rails immediately — as it adopts the major rail safety recommendations of the Transportation Safety Board.

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt says the least-crash-resistant of the old tanker cars must be removed — and older cars carrying crude oil and ethanol will be phased out or retro-fitted within three years. Rail carriers will also be required to prepare emergency response assistance plans for shipments of all petroleum products. The changes are the latest response to last summer’s train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec — that killed 47 people: “To ensure that we are prepared in the event of a rail accident the federal government will require rail shippers to develop emergency plans for higher risk flamable liquids.”

The opposition NDP say people will continue to be in danger as the rail cars move through communities for years to come.