Last month, as Norfolk Southern, one of the largest railroads in North America, reported record operating profits, Alan H. Shaw, its chief executive, told shareholders that the company’s service was “at the best it’s been in more than two years.”
About a week later, one of the company’s freight trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing a controlled burn of toxic chemicals and the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Another Norfolk Southern train came off the rails near Detroit on Thursday.
The accidents were a stark reminder that, even as freight railroad companies have become much more profitable in recent years, accidents, some serious, still regularly occur on the 140,000 miles of track that make up their networks.
The rate of accidents on Norfolk Southern’s railway increased in each of the last four years, according to a recent company presentation. The record has worsened as executives at Norfolk Southern and other railroads have been telling investors on Wall Street that they can bolster their profit margins by keeping a lid on costs. At the same time, railway companies have lobbied against new rules aimed at making trains safer.
“There has been a noticeable increase in train derailments and major incidents since rail companies have started running longer and bigger trains,” Mr. Smith said. “Previously, they were running larger trains but not to the magnitude that they are today.”
Entire article here: