|
It has been a year now since the disastrous - and preventable - freight train derailment, fire and explosion took place in the small eastern Ohio town of East Palestine. The U.S. rail industry - already reeling from the PR disaster due to its intransigence in national bargaining with the myriad rail unions - was dealt another black eye when it soon came to light that the cause of the wreck was due to industry cost-cutting on maintenance and inspection, and was avoidable. The failing operating model known as "Precision Scheduled Railroading" - a Wall Street scheme to milk the industry of short-term profits while mortgaging its future - came under further scrutiny and criticism.
In this environment, calls for new regulation of an industry out of control were heard from voices bother Conservative and Liberal. Yet a year later, little to nothing has been done to reign in the industry which continues to "self-regulate" while accidents continue to climb. And when one of the Class One carriers - Norfolk Southern - makes even the most miniscule effort to placate trackside communities, shippers or its workforce, Wall Street investors threaten a hedge fund takeover and a full return to mass cost-cutting and short-term profiteering.
In the face of inaction by the federal government, together with Wall Street's insistence to "stay the course" of failed policies of the past, Railroad Workers United and its allies continue to push for Public Ownership of the Railroads with worker and public control.
For more information, please check out the links below to recent articles in the last few days about East Palestine, the wreck, and rail safety.
| 
