Editorial: Railway safety is worth congressional action
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As national eyes focus on the midair collision of a commercial plane with a military helicopter over the Potomac River, concerns remain about how to prevent a different kind of disaster.
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, introduced a package of rail safety bills in March 2023, about a month after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
The bills, packaged as the Railway Safety Act, didn’t make real progress, Congress being the heavily divided atmosphere that it is. Despite a blend of bipartisan support from House members — and equally bipartisan support for a similar bill in the Senate — Deluzio’s legislation showed action the day after it was introduced and that was all.
He hopes for more now. It’s worth trying. Perhaps without a presidential election and every House member trying to keep their jobs, legislating will be more popular.
But if the scope of the crash in East Palestine didn’t drive home the importance of railway safety, it seems unlikely that two years’ distance from the fire and smoke will help.
“Our Beaver County neighbors saw that fireball go into the sky,” Deluzio said.
The importance isn’t just in what happened that day. It’s that trains like the one that burned that day, carrying chemicals and other hazardous materials, churn through our communities every day. It’s that so many Pennsylvania towns — and their water, soil and air — have the potential to be affected by a rail event.
It is true that the number of incidents have come down in recent years. According to the Department of Transportation, over the past 10 years, Allegheny County rail accidents are down 37%, Beaver down 52%, Butler 33%, Fayette 66%, Washington 72% and Westmoreland 77%. Across the region, 84 accidents came down to 43, a drop of almost 49%.
That’s positive. However, to rely on that is complacent.
Over those 10 years, freight trains have gotten longer. By adding cars, rail companies can cut costs or increase productivity. But what is good for business is not always what is good for people. Those interests have to be balanced.
This week, Norfolk Southern settled with East Palestine for $22 million. That’s on top of about $13.5 million already paid in evacuation and cleanup-related costs. There’s also the $660,000 paid to Darlington Township, Beaver County, and $1 million to the Pittsburgh Foundation for support of nonprofits providing health and human services in the region.
Norfolk Southern and other rail companies could be better served by seeing money go into preemptive steps rather than spreading cash around after an accident occurs.
But demanding that requires preventative action to happen first in Congress.