Norfolk Southern CEO apologizes for Ohio derailment, promises 'immediate' safety improvements
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Thursday apologized for the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and pledged “to improve safety immediately," in his first hearing before Congress since the incident on Feb. 3.
“I want to begin today by expressing how deeply sorry I am for the impact this has had on the residents of East Palestine and the surrounding communities,” Shaw said before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “I am determined to make this right.”
He said that while federal investigators have preliminarily found that the crew behind the controls “was operating the train below the speed limit and in an approved manner,” regardless, “it is clear the safety mechanisms in place were not enough.”
Norfolk Southern has announced safety changes in the wake of the accident that are tailored to addressing the likely cause — an overheating wheel on a car carrying plastic pellets, which then caught fire. The railroad industry as a whole has also made new safety promises, though they are also tailored to the specific likely cause of the accident.
Still, Shaw acknowledged that those voluntary initiatives “are just the start and we look forward to working with policymakers and industry on others.”
“The events of the last month are not who we are as a company,” Shaw said, referring not just to the East Palestine derailment but at least two other incidents since then, including one this week that resulted in the death of a conductor.
Several senators who have sponsored a bipartisan rail safety bill, S. 576 (118), asked Shaw to endorse the bill.
“It's bipartisan — that never happens around here on the big bills,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). “It'd be a good start by Norfolk Southern to tell us today — in addition to what they're going to do for the people of Ohio and Pennsylvania — tell us today that they support the bill. That would help, if a major rail company said we support these reforms, and we'll help you pass this bill.”
Shaw acknowledged that there is work ahead to be done involving policymakers but did not directly address the bill either way.