In the aftermath of the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S. Secretary of Transportation is calling on the freight-rail to accelerate safety improvements.
"The people of East Palestine deserve action," Buttigieg wrote in a Feb. 21 tweet. "USDOT has been on the ground since day one, and today we’re announcing our drive to hold the freight rail industry accountable and to improve rail safety."
Buttigieg called on the rail industry to "take immediate, commonsense steps" to improve safety measures and accountability within the industry in a DOT announcement released Feb. 21. Among the immediate actions requested are for the industry to expedite the integration of safer tank cars and provide paid sick leave to workers, and for Congress to raise current caps on fines for safety violations, according to the announcement.
“Profit and expediency must never outweigh the safety of the American people,” Buttigieg said in the statement. “We at USDOT are doing everything in our power to improve rail safety, and we insist that the rail industry do the same – while inviting Congress to work with us to raise the bar.”
Buttigieg, who visited the site of the derailment Feb. 23, is asking Congress to increase the maximum fines that the DOT can impose on rail corporations for safety violations. The highest penalty that currently can be levied is $225,455, even for severe violations involving hazardous materials and causing fatalities, according to the statement.
"This is a rounding error for a company that reported an astonishing record annual operating income in 2022 of $4.8 billion and has posted operating margins approaching 40%," the DOT states in the report.
In addition accelerating the use of safer tank cars and paying sick leave, the rail industry is being urged by the DOT to protect whistleblower employees from reprisals by joining FRA’s Confidential Close Call Reporting Program, which Amtrak and several other commuter-rail and short-line companies are part of "but not a single Class I railroad participates," according to the DOT.
The industry is also being urged to use new inspection technologies "without seeking permission to abandon human inspections," which has been a "top priority" for rail lobbyists; and to alert state emergency response teams when a train carrying hazardous materials is moving through their area, "instead of expecting first responders to look up this information after an incident occurs," the statement reports.
The DOT stated it will advance the Train Crew Staffing Rule that requires “a minimum of two crewmembers for most railroad operations” and “initiate a focused safety inspection program on routes over which trains with large volumes of hazardous material travel,” among other initiatives.
The department plans to deploy resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through several programs that can “modernize and improve rail tracks, eliminate at-grade rail crossings and improve rail safety.” Further rulemaking is planned on high-hazard flammable trains and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes.
No one was immediately injured when 38 rail cars, including 11 that carried hazardous materials, derailed Feb. 3 in Ohio, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated in its preliminary report issued Feb. 23. The 11 tank cars ignited, “fueling fires that damaged an additional 12 non-derailed railcars.”
Norfolk Southern wrote in a Feb. 23 statement on Facebook, in response to the NTSB’s preliminary report, that it the company needs “to learn as much as we can from this event.”
“Norfolk Southern will continue to support the NTSB’s investigation," the rail company stated. "Their preliminary report indicates: The rail crew operated the train within the company’s rules; the rail crew operated the train below the rack speed limit; the wayside heat detectors were operating as designed; once the rail crew was alerted by the wayside detector, they immediately began to stop the train."
Norfolk Southern said in its statement that it will invest in technologies and develop practices to prevent future derailments.
“We will also work with the owners of the rail cars on the integrity and safety of the equipment we use,” the company stated.
