Canada Rail Chief Will Phase Out Cars Used in Deadly Derailment

Canadian National Railway says it will phase out the type of tank cars involved in the Quebec train derailment last summer that killed 47.

CN Rail chief executive Claude Mongeau said Tuesday its fleet of 183 DOT-111 tank cars will be retired over four years. CN is Canada’s largest railway.

He says car design was “One of the most important systematic issues” arising from last summer’s railway explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec.

The Association of American Railroads recently recommended the retrofitting or phase-out of the old DOT-11 cars used to transport flammable liquids and a reinforced standard for new tank cars. The DOT-111 tank car is considered the workhorse of the North American fleet and makes up about 70 percent of all tankers on the rails.