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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.

Oil tank cars like those that ruptured in a train derailment in rural West Virginia on Feb. 16, sending a massive fireball into the sky and forcing evacuation of nearby homes, could be rolling through U.S. cities for years to come.

Oil climbed to over $50 a barrel Monday as workers at some of the nation’s refineries began strike action.

Oil declined from a one-week high in London and New York as Iraqi production advanced to a record, compounding a global supply surplus.