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Canada moves ahead of U.S. in phasing out old oil rail tank cars

A tanker with an inscription which reads, "empty and inspected", is pictured on the rail track in Lac-Megantic, November 21, 2013. REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada announced a unilateral three-year phase-out of older oil tanker rail cars on Wednesday, moving ahead of the United States after last year's derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people. And within 30 days it will prohibit the most dangerous of those tank cars, those which have no continuous reinforcement of their bottom shells, from carrying crude oil or ethanol. The Transport Department's response to the Lac-Megantic disaster said integration of North America's market necessitated close cooperation with the United States but that for now it would move more aggressively. (Reporting by Randall Palmer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)