Rushed railcar inspections and ‘stagnated’ safety record reinforce concerns after fiery Ohio crash

Associated Press

Rail unions say that inspections continue to be rushed and a new federal study reinforces that concern with railroads routinely allowing less than two minutes per car for inspections. There are nearly 200 things to check on every railcar and the Transportation Communications Union that represents workers say there’s no way to do that in the time allotted. The head of the Federal Railroad Administration testified at a House hearing Tuesday that railroad safety has stagnated over the last decade and more needs to be done. But it’s not clear if Republicans will support any rail safety reforms even after the disastrous East Palestine derailment that prompted the hearing.