Hamilton, Ontario-based National Steel Car announced Friday that it will lay off 500 workers at its rail tanker car plant. The company said the layoffs will be temporary, and most workers will be recalled in January when the plant starts manufacturing two new lines of rail cars to meet new regulations for cars used to transport flammable materials. The regulations will take effect between 2017 and 2025.
The company still has three production lines running to keep the balance of its 2,400 employees busy through the holidays.
Toby Kolstad, of Rail Theory Forecasts, told local media that regulatory changes should supply about 18 months of work for manufacturers, and oil is still moving by rail in the US despite price drops. He predicts the rail car industry will build 72,000 cars in 2016 after 84,000 in 2015 before returning to its "normal" level of about 50,000 a year.