WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has asked the National Transportation Safety Board to expand its planned investigation into Norfolk Southern safety practices to cover all Class I railroads, the website Politico reports.
The NTSB announced its plan to conduct a special investigation of NS — the first of a railroad since 2014 — earlier this month, citing “the number and significance” of recent accidents [see “NTSB launches special investigation …,” Trains News Wire, March 7, 2023].
In a letter today to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, Schumer cites “a troubling and fatal combination” of deregulation, more than 26,500 accidents in five years, and cuts of more than 30,000 workers in the same period in saying it is “jarringly evident that the freight rail industry is in desperate need of a full and comprehensive investigation.”
He asks that the safety board considers a half-dozen questions, among them how “degulatory pushes have contributed to these derailments and increase in deaths” and whether railroads “have a culture of ignoring their own safety standards.”
Schumer’s letter also asserts that “Congress — and the American people — desperately need greater insight into an industry that lacks transparency and clear safety standards all while transporting hazardous and toxic materials through American communities each day.”
The move is the latest on Capitol Hill in response to the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment and toxic-chemical release in East Palestine, Ohio, as well as subsequent incidents. Other actions include introduction of the Rail Safety Act by a bipartisan group of senators [see “Senators propose tighter regulations …,” Trains News Wire, March 1, 2023] and last week’s hearing on the derailment by the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, which featured lengthy questioning of NS CEO Alan Shaw [see “Senate committee grills Norfolk Southern CEO …,” News Wire, March 9, 2023].
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