(NewsNation) — As federal investigators continue to look into Norfolk Southern’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the railroad’s CEO Alan Shaw re-emphasized the company’s efforts to improve safety measures on Wednesday.
During the company’s quarterly earnings call, Shaw said the railroad is in the process of installing additional sensors and early-detection equipment, among other things. Shaw said the railroad is also increasing safety training for first responders.
“Moving forward, Norfolk Southern will be known for safe operations,” Shaw said.
In February, 38 Norfolk Southern train cars derailed, 10 of which contained toxic materials that spilled into the community of East Palestine near the Ohio-Pennsyvlania border.
In March, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) opened a special investigation into Norfolk Southern which is still ongoing.
Federal investigators are looking at the company’s safety culture — the first such investigation within the rail industry since 2014. The NTSB sent investigation teams to look into five major incidents involving the railroad since December 2021.
The Federal Railroad Administration is conducting its own supplemental safety assessment of Norfolk Southern’s operations.
Data shows that Norfolk Southern reported 12.95 train accidents per every million miles last year. That’s better than the three previous years but still worse than a decade earlier when it reported 11.4 total accidents per million miles.
A preliminary NTSB investigation into what caused the East Palestine derailment determined that an overheated wheel bearing was likely to blame. The train’s crew members had no indication something was wrong until an alarm sounded just before it went of the tracks.
Surveillance video from a local residence showed what appeared to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure just before the derailment. Investigators determined that the train was going under the 50 mph speed limit at the time of the incident.
Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have called for renewed attention on safety within a freight rail industry that has cut jobs in order to reduce costs.
Ohio Sens. J.D. Vance (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) have pushed for federal rail safety legislation to prevent future train incidents. The bill includes requirements that trains have crews of at least two people, expands the classification for highly hazardous flammable trains and increases fines for safety violations.
At a Senate hearing in March, Shaw said he supported some of the regulations but would not commit to supporting the bill.
A spokesperson for the DOT was critical of the rail industry’s reluctance to support proposed federal safety regulations in a statement issued to NewsNation Wednesday.
“It shouldn’t require an act of Congress for the rail industry to take common-sense steps, like committing to at least two crewmembers on a train and notifying local first responders when hazardous materials will be rolling through a community,” the DOT spokesperson said. “But until industry proves it can lead on safety efforts, Congress can and should pass bipartisan legislation to get tougher rail safety standards on the books.”
Last month, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a civil lawsuit seeking to hold Norfolk Southern financially responsible for the derailment. The U.S. Department of Justice has also filed a lawsuit.
Brown and Vance, along with Pennsylvania Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, recently called on the National Institute of Health (NIH) to mobilize resources to support the affected communities and investigate the health impacts of the toxic derailment.
