The US Senate held a hearing on the “poisonous train” derailment, and the CEO of the company involved attended the hearing
CCTV news client reported that on March 9, local time, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on the East Palestine train derailment on February 3. Norfolk Southern Railway Company CEO Alan Shaw attended and provided testimony.
Alan Shaw apologized to affected communities for the rail accident, secured funds and resources to clean up the scene of the accident and provide assistance to the community. Alan Shaw said the company has provided $21 million in assistance to East Palestine and $7.5 million to communities in Pennsylvania affected by the accident. He said the funds were just a first step and Norfolk Southern would continue to help affected communities.
Alan Shaw also cited a preliminary finding by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in his testimony that the accident train was traveling at a speed lower than the speed limit for that part of the track, and there is currently no indication that the staff had made operational errors. But Alan Shaw admitted, “It’s clear that the existing security mechanisms are not enough.”
During the hearing, two Ohio senators attacked Norfolk Southern and some federal officials. Norfolk Southern has had numerous accidents since December 2021, three of which resulted in the death of workers, but has failed to improve safety measures, the two lawmakers said. The accidents might not have happened at all if the company had focused more on safety and less on profits, lawmakers said.
According to the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, there will be at least 1,164 train derailment accidents across the United States in 2022. That translates to an average of about three derailments per day across the United States. Human error is the leading cause of derailments in 2022, while track defects are the second leading cause of train derailments.
