Rail lines agree to slow oil trains in cities, do more track inspections, improve disaster planning

Railroads carrying crude oil "have reached an agreement with U.S. transportation officials to adopt wide-ranging, voluntary safety measures after a string of explosive and deadly accidents," report Matthew Brown and Joan Lowy of The Associated Press, which got a copy of the agreement between the Association of American Railroads and the Transportation Department. (Photo by MCT via Getty Images)

Oil trains would slow down through major cities, railroads "would increase track inspections and bolster emergency response planning along routes that carry trains hauling up to 3 million gallons of oil each," AP reports. "Those trains travel thousands of miles from oil producing areas, including the Northern Plains, to coastal refineries."

AP notes that the agreement does not apply to ethanol, which has "also seen a spate of accidents as production has increased," or "a design flaw in tens of thousands of tank cars that make them prone to rupture during derailments." Railroads said that would be addressed in a separate agreement.

The voluntary agreement will allow railroads to act soon instead of waiting "for new safety rules to be drafted and approved by the government, said Robert Chipkevich, former director of rail and hazardous materials accident investigations at the National Transportation Safety Board. But he added that there's no way for now to enforce the industry's commitments," AP reports.