Global Courant
Officials say they plan to conduct safety investigations at all major freight railroads in the coming year
By means ofJOSH FUNK AP Business Writer
FILE – Multiple cars of a train in Norfolk Southern are on top of each other after they derailed on March 4, 2023 at a train crossing near Springfield, Ohio. fiery derailment on Feb. 3 in Ohio, and officials plan to conduct similar investigations for all major freight railroads in the coming year. (Bill Lackey/Springfield-News Sun via AP, file)
The associated press
OMAHA, Neb. — The Federal Railroad Administration recently completed a review of the safety culture at Norfolk Southern in the wake of the fiery Ohio derailment in February, and officials plan to conduct similar investigations at all major freight railroads over the next year.
A report will be out soon on what investigators found in Norfolk Southern after the Feb. 3 derailment — which led to the evacuation of half of eastern Palestine, Ohio — and several other recent derailments. That crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border sparked great interest in railroad safety across the country and led to proposed reforms in Congress.
The head of the FRA, Administrator Amit Bose, recently said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that in addition to individual reports on Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, the agency also produces an industry-wide report. about common problems and trends.
Railway unions have expressed concern that the changes made to the railways over the past six years have made the trains that carry hazardous materials and goods of all kinds across the country more dangerous.
The unions say the major staff cuts the railways have made, coupled with their increasing reliance on longer trains, have increased the likelihood of safety problems. They say inspections are rushed, preventive maintenance can be neglected, and overworked workers tire more quickly.
The railways have defended their practices, saying they have not sacrificed safety to become more efficient. The industry also emphasizes that it remains the safest way to transport hazardous materials by land. Norfolk Southern and all major rail companies have announced a number of steps they are taking to improve safety, although regulators and lawmakers have called on them to do more.
Federal regulators have said safety data hasn’t changed enough to show the railroad’s new business model is unsafe. The figures do show that the number of accidents per million kilometers traveled by freight trains has risen from 15,572 to 16,695 over the past decade, although the total number of incidents fell as the railways carried less freight. Rail yard accidents also worsened from 11,044 in 2013 to 15,517 last year.
Concerns have also been raised about the safety of today’s long trains that routinely extend over two miles. Bose said the FRA recently warned railroads to be careful about how they put together long trains to reduce the risk of derailments.
The freight railways prefer longer trains because they can deliver the same amount of freight with fewer crews and locomotives.
