TOLEDO, Ohio — The second Norfolk Southern train to derail in Ohio in a month happened in Springfield on Saturday and was discovered on Monday to be carrying hazardous materials. None of the cars carrying the hazardous materials were the ones that derailed.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, said during a press conference Monday at the Toledo Amtrak Station that companies and state leaders need to work together to improve rail safety.
"Norfolk Southern over the last four years made over $40 billion," she said. "They have money to treat communities fairly, their workers fairly and they have no right to defile the United States of America."
Kaptur said since the midwest has heavily invested in transportation and the railway industry should be up to date as a result. She said one way to offer safer transportation is to separate passenger and freight trains for size.
"We don't want them to be on the same track and we want them to be working with us to integrate transportation systems multimodally in this part of the U.S.," she said.
Dick Brady, mayor of Sandusky and president of the Sandusky City Commission, echoed Kaptur's statements on improving rail safety.
"If we had 3 plane crashes a day for a week, we would have everyone's attention in the entire world," Brady said. "It's time that we stop looking away on these types of things and start developing real strategies to combat it."
Brady said there were 20 train cars that derailed in October in Sandusky, which is still in the process of being cleaned up.
Since October, there have been four train derailments in Ohio including those in East Palestine and Springfield.
"I can't believe technology can't provide a better buffer for us as far as overheating on wheel bearings, we should've known that far in advance to a train derailing," Brady said.
Kaptur said Norfolk Southern has yet to respond to her calls since the East Palestine derailment in early February. However, she and state senators Sherrod Brown and JD Vance are working on the Railway Safety Act of 2023.
The act would create more safety requirements and is set to be introduced Wednesday to the U.S. Congress. President Joe Biden called Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine over the weekend to offer federal assistance too.