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Trains carrying crude oil will be restricted to a 40 mph speed limit in populated areas such as New York under an order by the U.S. Department of Transportation in response to a series of derailments.

The United States keeps pumping oil at a near-record pace in spite of the collapse in prices over the past year and cutbacks in drilling.

The National Transportation Safety Board on April 6 urged hazardous material regulators to step up requirements for replacing or retrofitting tank railcars that carry flammable liquids such as crude oil and ethanol with better thermal protection.

The three agencies that oversee truck, railroad and pipeline safety are asking to hire more inspectors to address concerns generated by the nation’s energy boom.

The slowdown that North American railroad companies had been bracing for in crude oil shipments has turned into a rout, with volumes falling faster than executives had predicted.

Lower speed limits for railroads may be ineffective at keeping oil trains on the tracks and preventing massive fireballs, such as those triggered in a series of recent derailments, the chief U.S. railroad regulator said.

Canada is strengthening proposed new safety standards for rail cars carrying crude oil, requiring thicker steel and other improvements after a 2013 derailment killed 47 people.

Canadian National Railway Co. is building a 1,500-foot long track to bypass a burning train that derailed March 7 in northern Ontario, while BNSF Railway Co. crews are working to reopen track in rural Illinois after a train carrying oil derailed March 5.