Short Lines

• The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and its Canadian counterpart, Transport Canada, signed an agreement last month for a joint research program on the effect of low temperatures on rail tank cars. The agreement follows incidents in Canada and the United States in the last six years in which tank cars subjected to cold temperatures ruptured in cold weather. Cold temperatures refers to 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit or lower. The goal of the research is to identify causes and solutions of the tank car failures, which the FRA plans to use to develop new safety standards. Contact: U.S. Transportation Department at (202) 493-6024.

• Canadian National Railway announced last week that it has reached an agreement in principle to transfer 144 miles of line located in southern Manitoba to Manitoba Southern Railway, Inc., a newly created affiliate of Tulare Valley Railroad Co. of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Manitoba Southern Railway is scheduled to begin operations in August. The line handled 1,900 carloads of grain last year. Contact: Canadian National's Jim Feeny at (780) 421 -6324.