When a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed and caught fire in East Palestine, Ohio, in February, the ominous black tower of toxic smoke was all over national news. The crash and its aftermath became a rallying cry for politicians across the spectrum.
That same month, a FedEx driver died after an Amtrak train headed from Los Angeles to Chicago crashed into a truck near Pleasant Hill, Missouri. Just a few months earlier, in June 2022, four people had been killed and dozens more injured when a train on that same Amtrak route hit a dump truck loaded with rock at a crossing in tiny Mendon, Missouri.
Passenger trains don’t carry explosives or toxic chemicals, though, so they can’t do the same kind of damage that a derailed freight train can. The East Palestine derailment sparked bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting rail communities.
But somewhere along the line, the Railway Safety Act of 2023 went off the tracks.
Hilary Flint, who lives near East Palestine, didn’t think much of the derailment there at first. But when first responders touched off a controlled burn, it was clear from her vantage point four miles away that something was profoundly wrong.
“It felt like a post-apocalyptic,” said Flint, who fled the column of smoke drifting toward her home. “It reminded me of the photos I've seen of the atomic bomb.”
That crash was triggered by an overheated wheel bearing in a rail car. When the bearing failed, it tipped 38 rail cars off the tracks. Some were carrying toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride.
The crash and fire polluted the Ohio River and killed thousands of fish. No people were killed, or even badly hurt, at first. But Flint said chemical fallout from the fire lingered. She said she and her family suffered sore throats, rashes, and headaches for months.
“I think it, what happened here really woke people up.”
The attention included visits from former president Donald Trump, Fox News host Sean Hannity, and Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, each of whom accused the Biden administration of ignoring the plight of the conservative town and covering up the environmental damage.
And it wasn’t just conservatives. Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown co-sponsoredthe Railway Safety Act of 2023, along with both Pennsylvania senators, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.
“This railroad safety bill is an attempt to blunt some of that overreach and some of that greed that corporate executives at the railroads have foisted upon the American public,” Brown told KCUR recently.
The act would require railroads to install more sensors that flag developing problems with rail cars, like the bearing that failed in East Palestine. The railroads already use these sensors extensively. In fact, the train in East Palestine had just passed one such “hot box detector” flagging the problem with the wheel bearing that failed, but by then it was too late to stop the derailment. The legislation would require more sensors spaced at regular intervals.
The act would also require railroads to notify local responders when trains carrying hazardous materials will be passing through their towns.
And it would mandate the size of train crews.
“The railroads want only one engineer,” said Brown. “Our law says there have to be at least two people working on these trains at all times.”
In recent years the six big freight railroads that cover North America have stretched the length of trains, some up to three miles long, and banked growing profits. In 2021, the so-called Class 1 railroads earned $27 billion, up from $15 billion ten years earlier. At the same time, railroads have shed employees.
Brown said staffing is thin and safety has suffered.
But a mandatory two-person crew size is a major sticking point for the Railway Safety Act.
The Class 1 railroads all operate with two-person crews now. It’s required in their contracts with the unions that represent rail workers.
But railroads would like to run some trains with only one engineer on board if they can negotiate that change with the unions. They say that there’s no hard evidence that having two people running a train is any safer than one.
Ian Jefferies, president of the Association of American Railroads, points out that the train in East Palestine had a crew of three. And train crews have already dropped from five down to two as technology keeps advancing.
“At the same time, we've seen dramatic safety improvements across as every aspect of the industry,” said Jefferies.
According to industry data, derailments are down about 30% since 2000. Hazardous chemical spills are off by more than 70%.
“Last year was one of the best years in the entire history of this industry, if not the best,” said Jefferies.
Railroad companies hate wrecks. After all, accidents kill valuable employees. They destroy gear, scramble schedules and spark lawsuits. They cost a lot of money.
Since the East Palestine derailment, Jefferies said, railroads have launched an effort to notify more than two million first responders around the country, letting them know when trains are hauling hazardous cargo through their communities, what it is, and what do if it leaks out.
So, one major goal of the Railway Safety Act has arguably already been achieved. But the act itself has been stuck in the Senate for months.
“For all intents and purposes, it's dead,” said Bill Vantuono, editor-in-chief at Railway Age.
Vantuono said the act would lockin outdated safety technology.
Sen. Brown admits the legislation is stalled. Despite the high-profile conservative endorsements, the Railway Safety Act faces railroad opposition and a Republican filibuster in the Senate.
And with ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine, mounting tension with China and Russia, and a rolling budget crisis threatening to shut down the government next year, the fiery train wreck in East Palestine seems more and more distant.
That’s all fine with the railroad industry insiders like Vantuono, who argue act was written to check political boxes, with an incomplete understanding of how railroads keep their trains running.
“It wasn't needed in the first place,” said Vantuono. “It was a huge waste of time, nothing but a political stunt. And, if it is in fact dead, which I think it is, you know, good riddance.”
