Norfolk Southern CEO says he supports parts of new rail safety bills

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw connected Wednesday told senators that his railroad institution supports parts of 2 bipartisan obstruction information bills that came successful the aftermath of a derailment past period of a bid carrying toxic materials successful Ohio.

Testifying successful beforehand of the Senate Committee connected Commerce, Science and Transportation, Shaw said the Railway Safety Act and the RAIL Act see "measures with the imaginable for meaningful improvement, specified arsenic backing further training, amended precocious notifications, accelerating the signifier retired of older vessel cars, and overmuch more."

Shaw did not afloat endorse the Railway Safety Act, which includes provisions calling for two-person crews connected each railroad locomotives. "We're not alert of immoderate information that links unit size with safety," Shaw said Wednesday.

"If the railroads had it their mode — down to a one-person unit — and they reduced the conductor presumption to ground-based, meaning a idiosyncratic astatine a pickup motortruck driving to the site, that puts engineers successful danger," said Clyde Whitaker, an authoritative astatine the SMART Transportation Division union, successful response. "It besides puts the effect clip and the appraisal of the contented successful danger."

The authorities was introduced by Sens. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, successful the weeks pursuing the Feb. 3 East Palestine, Ohio, bid derailment, which released toxic chemicals into the surrounding area.

In prepared remarks, Shaw said helium agrees successful "principle" with portions of the legislation, specified arsenic "establishing show standards, attraction standards, and alert thresholds for information sensors."

"We promote adjacent stricter standards for vessel car design," Shaw said successful prepared remarks. "There are important opportunities for precocious exertion to heighten obstruction safety, and we promote Congress to see further probe into on-board obstruction car defect detection technology."

Brown, who spoke astatine the proceeding on with Vance, suggested the problems with Norfolk Southern were broader, pointing to 579 violations during 1 caller fiscal year, with the institution paying an mean good of $3,300.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said astatine the proceeding that helium agrees "with the changes successful the law" that the measure proposes, arsenic good arsenic the RAIL Act projected past week by Reps. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Ohio. DeWine, a Republican, said lawmakers added his petition to see a proviso requiring obstruction carriers to supply beforehand notification and accusation to authorities exigency effect officials astir the goods they are transporting.

Ohio sued Norfolk Southern past week, seeking damages, civilian penalties and a "declaratory judgement that Norfolk Southern is responsible," Attorney General Dave Yost said.

Shaw, who testified earlier the Senate Committee connected Environment and Public Works 2 weeks ago, said successful prepared remarks that the institution volition heighten its blistery bearing detector network, deploy much acoustic bearing detectors, accelerate its inspection programme and amended practices for detectors. Norfolk Southern has said the detectors were moving arsenic designed successful East Palestine, but it is adding 200 further hotbox detectors.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said the bureau supports a quicker displacement distant from an aged modular of vessel cars, arsenic good arsenic improved accusation sharing betwixt exigency responders and railroads.

"Even 1 obstruction car of immoderate hazardous worldly justifies notifying exigency responders, not 20 oregon much than 35 loaded vessel cars, which could incorporate 1 cardinal gallons of hazardous materials," Homendy wrote successful prepared remarks.

The NTSB connected Monday released 3 preliminary reports connected caller incidents, including a bid derailment successful Alabama connected March 9, a collision with a dump motortruck connected March 7 that killed the bid conductor and a derailment connected March 4 successful Springfield, Ohio.

Homendy suggested expanding the explanation of high-hazard flammable trains, arsenic good arsenic providing real-time accusation for responders and residents.

In his remarks, Shaw addressed the arguable signifier of precision scheduled railroading, which has been criticized arsenic a method for cost-cutting and driving a debased operating ratio. Shaw said the institution has taken "a much balanced approached to service, productivity, and growth" by "aggressively" hiring trade railroaders.

"No longer is identifying defects the extremity of inspections but alternatively minimize the clip it takes to execute them oregon the elimination of them altogether," said Whitaker. "Compound this with the information that the railroads are connected a determined people to turn these trains to astronomical lengths and you person a predictable outcome, and that result is East Palestine."

From 2017 to 2021, railroads chopped their workforce by 22% and reduced concern successful the web by 24%, though mishap rates accrued by 14% implicit the clip period, according to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chairs the committee that held the proceeding Wednesday.