The federal government could soon take a step forward in better securing the nation’s freight railways, as it is considering placing new restrictions on new freight rail cars put into service.
A proposed rule by the Federal Railroad Administration would “limit content that originates from a country of concern (COC) or is sourced from a state-owned enterprise (SOE),” along with “prohibiting the use of sensitive technology that originates from a COC or SOE.” Put more simply, the rule means rail cars cannot be manufactured in countries “on U.S. watchlists for raising U.S. national security concerns” or those that have violated U.S. intellectual property laws, FreightWaves reported.