Derailment at East Palestine prompts Norfolk Southern CEO to support some new regulations

Alan Shaw, chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern, recently told senators on Wednesday that his railroad company supports parts of the two bipartisan rail safety bills. This is a result of the derailment of a train that was carrying toxic materials in Ohio last month.

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Shaw claimed during testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that the RAIL Act and the Railway Safety Act both contain "measures with the potential for meaningful improvements, such as funding additional training, better-advanced notifications, accelerating the phase-out of older tank cars, and much more."

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Shaw did not entirely support the Railway Safety Act's provisions requiring two-person crews on all locomotives. Shaw said on Wednesday that he was not aware of any information connecting staff size to safety.

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One of the few items of legislation Shaw did not fully support was the Railway Safety Act, which requires two-person crews on all railroad engines. "We are not aware of any statistics connecting staff size to safety," Shaw continued.

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Clyde Whitaker, a representative of the SMART Transportation Division union, responded, "If the railways had their way down to a one-person crew, and they lowered the conductor position to ground-based, meaning a person in a pickup truck driving to the site, it puts engineers in danger. Also, it endangers the assessment of the problem and reaction time.”

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Sens. J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, sponsored the bill. This was a few weeks after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, and dangerous chemicals were discharged into the neighborhood.

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According to his prepared remarks, Shaw concurs "in principle" with the legislation's provisions about "setting performance criteria, maintenance standards, and warning thresholds for safety sensors."

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"We recommend even stronger criteria for tank car design," Shaw stated in prepared remarks. “We urge Congress to take into account further study of on-board rail car fault detection technology because there are huge prospects for modern technology to improve rail safety.”

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In addition to Vance, Brown also spoke during the hearing. He stated that Norfolk Southern's issues were more widespread, citing 579 breaches from the previous fiscal year for which the business paid an average fine of $3,300.

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Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio stated during the hearing that he supports both the RAIL Act, which was filed last week by Reps. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Ohio, and "the adjustments in the law" that the bill proposes. Republican DeWine said that lawmakers included his proposal to include a clause mandating train operators to notify state emergency response officials beforehand and to submit information about the products they are hauling.

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Attorney General Dave Yost said that Ohio filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern last week, seeking monetary compensation, civil penalties, and a "declaratory judgment that Norfolk Southern is accountable."

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Making improvements

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“The company will expand its hot bearing detection network, put additional acoustic bearing detectors into service, speed up its inspection procedure, and enhance detector methods,” according to Shaw, who spoke before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works two weeks ago. Although Norfolk Southern claims the detectors in East Palestine were operating as intended, it is still installing 200 more hotbox detectors.

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Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, stated that the organization favors a swift transition away from an antiquated tank car standard. She also stated that the organization favors improved information exchange between emergency responders and railroads.

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Homendy wrote in prepared remarks, "Even one rail car with any hazardous material justifies contacting emergency responders, not twenty or more than thirty-five loaded tank cars, which might hold one million gallons of hazardous compounds."

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The NTSB released three preliminary reports on recent accidents on Monday, including a train derailment in Alabama on March 9, a train conductor-deadly collision with a dump truck on March 7, and a disaster in Springfield, Ohio, on March 4.

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Homendy recommended giving responders and locals access to real-time information and broadening the category of high-hazard combustible trains.

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Shaw talked about the contentious practice of precision-planned railroading in his speech, which has been decried as a way to minimize costs and promote a low operating ratio. By "aggressively" hiring skilled railroaders, the company, according to Shaw, has adopted "a more balanced approach to service, productivity, and growth."

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The purpose of inspections, according to Whitaker, "is no longer to find problems, but to reduce the time it takes to do them or to eliminate them entirely. East Palestine is the foreseeable result when you combine this with the railroads' unwavering commitment to enlarging these trains to enormous lengths.”

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Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, the chairwoman of the committee that convened the hearing on Wednesday, said that between 2017 and 2021, railways slashed their workforce by 22% and their investment in the network by 24%, despite an increase in accident rates of 14%.