[ad_1]
Norfolk Southern has announced safety changes in the wake of the accident that are tailored to addressing the likely cause — an overheating wheel on a car carrying plastic pellets, which then caught fire. The railroad industry as a whole has also made new safety promises, though they are also tailored to the specific likely cause of the accident.
Still, Shaw acknowledged that those voluntary initiatives “are just the start and we look forward to working with policymakers and industry on others.”
“The events of the last month are not who we are as a company,” Shaw said, referring not just to the East Palestine derailment but at least two other incidents since then, including one this week that resulted in the death of a conductor.
Several senators who have sponsored a bipartisan rail safety bill, S. 576 (118), asked Shaw to endorse the bill.
“It’s bipartisan — that never happens around here on the big bills,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). “It’d be a good start by Norfolk Southern to tell us today — in addition to what they’re going to do for the people of Ohio and Pennsylvania — tell us today that they support the bill. That would help, if a major rail company said we support these reforms, and we’ll help you pass this bill.”
Shaw acknowledged that there is work ahead to be done involving policymakers but did not directly address the bill either way.
[ad_2]