Second Ohio Derailment Raises Ire in Congress on Rail Safety

  • Democratic and Republican lawmakers are calling for action
  • Norfolk Southern CEO to testify to Senate committee this week

Multiple cars of a Norfolk Southern train lie toppled after derailing at a train crossing with Ohio 41 in Clark County, Ohio, on March 4.

Photographer: Bill Lackey/Springfield-News Sun/AP Photo

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A second freight train derailment in Ohio within a month is giving new impetus for rail safety legislation in Congress, as Democrats and Republicans prepare to grill Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw when he testifies to a Senate committee Thursday.

“The big railroads have weakened safety rules or resisted safety rules for years,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “But you’d think a disaster that happened in East Palestine would have gotten their attention.”