East Palestine anniversary: Buttigieg, labor call for a safer freight-rail industry

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove a quote from TTD regarding the number of derailments that have occurred since February 2023. The number quoted was incorrect.]

In recognition of the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern Railway hazmat train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the nation's rail union leaders gathered yesterday for a virtual media briefing to warn of what they say are ongoing safety threats in the freight-rail industry.

Joining rail union officials on the call were U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Greg Regan.

Buttigieg, Regan and the other labor leaders called on Congress to pass the Railway Safety Act, a bill that U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) introduced in the weeks after the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment.

"One year later, Congress has still not acted to pass the bipartisan Railway Safety Act, which would be a decisive victory for rail-worker safety and the ability to hold railroad corporations accountable," said Buttigieg.

Buttigieg outlined the Federal Railroad Administration/USDOT actions taken since the East Palestine accident, which include:
• initiating inspections on more than 40,000 freight cars, 76,888 miles of track (87% were on routes over which hazardous materials are transported), and thousands of wayside detectors on more than 25 different railroads;
• conducting a supplemental safety assessment of NS’ safety culture and safety practices;
• pushing a rule requiring two-person train crews on certain freight trains;
• advancing rulemakings that would require railroads to provide emergency escape breathing apparatus to train crews when transporting hazmat;
• pushing a rule requiring railroads to develop written programs for certifying dispatchers and signal employees;
• urging railroads using hot-bearing detectors (HBDs) to evaluate their inspection process, prioritize the proper training and qualification of personnel working with HBDs, and improve the safety culture of their organizations related to HBDs decision-making;
• awarding $570 million through the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program to 32 states to eliminate or improve more than 400 grade crossings; and
• awarding $1.4 billion to 70 projects through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program to make passenger and freight rail safer and more efficient.

Buttigieg reiterated his appeal to Class Is to join the FRA's Confidential Close Call Reporting System. So far, only NS has agreed to join a pilot version of the program.

Still, more needs to be done to improve the safety of the nation’s freight-rail system, Buttigieg said.

"We [USDOT] will continue to do all we can, but more can be done to protect workers and our department would have tougher tools to work with to hold railroads accountable if Congress would pass the bipartisan Railway Safety Act,” the secretary said.

Meanwhile, NS earlier this week released its report outlining its progress in helping the East Palestine community recover from the derailment.

"The road to recovery is just the start; we’ll be here as long as it takes for these communities to truly flourish," NS CEO Alan Shaw wrote in the report’s introduction. To date, NS has committed more than $103 million to East Palestine and areas in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Also this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Shaw faces activists calling for his ouster at the company. An investor group led by Ancora Holdings has taken a big stake in NS and plans to run a proxy fight aimed at overhauling the Class I’s board and replacing Shaw.

According to the WSJ, the group has built a $1 billion stake and nominated a slate of directors to the board and oust Shaw. The slate includes former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sameh Fahmy, who was an executive at Kansas City Southern, a Class I that last year merged with Canadian Pacific.

The group wants to take control of the board to make changes designed to boost NS’ stock, which was down as of Wednesday’s close from a high two years ago as revenue and profit fell — due in part to the East Palestine derailment, the newspaper reported.