Railroad in fiery derailment agrees to changes

BILLINGS, Mont. – The nation’s largest railroad has agreed to more thorough inspections and maintenance improvements after a fiery derailment and the discovery of more than 800 potential safety violations across its sprawling network.

Details on the agreement between the Federal Railroad Administration and Union Pacific Railroad were obtained by The Associated Press.

A Union Pacific train hauling crude oil through the Columbia River Gorge derailed in June near Mosier, Oregon, sparking a massive fire that burned for 14 hours.

Investigators concluded routine inspections should have caught a series of broken bolts that allowed the rails near Mosier to widen.

It was one of more than two dozen oil train accidents over the past decade across North America. The worst killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in 2013.

Representatives of Union Pacific Railroad did not have an immediate comment on the agreement.

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