Rail cargo safety fight heats up

Click title for link to full article. The Transportation Department has proposed regulations that require railroads to assess routes for shipping dangerous chemicals. New York - Every day, hundreds of rail tank cars carry tons of chemicals that, if released, could create toxic plumes. These tank cars traverse more than 300,000 miles of railroad tracks through major cities and small towns across America. While they represent only a small fraction of the rail cargo moved each year, homeland-security analysts have long warned that a terrorist attack on such a rail car could have catastrophic consequences.