By Andy Hauck, Wisconsin SMART Transportation Division State Legislative Director

On February 1 in Washington, DC, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee held its first meeting of the 118th congressional session, and one member in particular wasted no time in informing rail labor that our truths and issues make him uncomfortable and that we essentially need to sit down and shut up.

Wisconsin SLD Hauck

The meeting was called to address delays and obstacles in the nation’s supply chain and how the money allocated by President Biden and the outgoing Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) should be used to address these problems. President Greg Regan of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) was the only voice of labor in this important conversation. The nation’s hugely profitable rail carriers were represented by Ian Jefferies of the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Representatives from the trucking industry, the port of Houston and a representative for corporate building contractors also took part.

Late in the hearing, Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden (a Jan. 6th-attendee-turned-U.S.-congressman) used his five minutes to ask softball questions to the industry reps before attempting to intimidate Regan, the sole labor representative.

AFL-CIO TTD President Regan

After being asked if he had any relation to former President Ronald Reagan (note the different spelling), TTD’s Regan chuckled and said, “No. He fired the air traffic controllers, and I have the privilege of representing them.” This light-hearted one-liner was quickly met with a response from Van Orden meant to put all of labor on notice. Van Orden said that he had read the written testimony offered by the AFL-CIO TTD — an umbrella organization representing hundreds of thousands of workers from nearly three dozen unions — and that he had some advice to offer: “Change your tone!”

Van Orden then went on to declare that while he is willing to work with anyone to solve problems, he didn’t appreciate the manner in which Regan stood up for all of us in the rail labor community. He was indicating to Regan and rail labor that he would not be moved by the ugly truths we have to share with him about the realities we face each day as workers in the industry. He was clearly offended by Regan’s audacity to point out in his written statement that rail carriers have been investing less into their own infrastructure since the onset of the job-cutting, profit-at-any-cost Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) operating model – despite their record profits, which could have been used to enhance safety in the railroad industry.

Two days following this committee hearing, on Feb. 3, the world found out that the “tone” of Regan’s written comments was all too warranted. Roughly 52 hours after Rep. Van Orden’s blanket dismissal of Regan and rail labor’s concerns, Norfolk Southern train 32N left the rails in East Palestine, Ohio. Then, on April 27, the reality of Regan’s concerns hit a little closer to home for the first-term congressman.

Rep. Van Orden

In Ferryville, Wisconsin – in Van Orden’s home district – a BNSF train not only derailed, but two intermodal cars fell into the Mississippi River. Thankfully for all involved, this derailment did not result in a fiery hazmat spill like the horrific scene in February on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. Yet the visual of the twisted cars in the water might be enough to give Rep. Van Orden a new perspective. If the cars that cascaded into the river had been among the many on that train that contain dangerous chemicals, it could have contaminated the water supply of communities from southwestern Wisconsin all the way to New Orleans, the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.

No one wants to see anything even close to that scale happen, but the drone footage of the derailment in Ferryville demonstrates the validity and well-warranted urgency Regan and all of rail labor possess when it comes to matters of public and worker safety.

When faced with the reality of the rail carriers’ disregard for rail safety, rail labor does not have the luxury of being diplomatic. If our urgency and sense of impending catastrophe is unsettling to those who read it, it is based on reality, not hyperbole, as evidenced by the ongoing concern for the long-term impacts of the East Palestine derailment in Ohio and the surrounding areas. There is no way that President Regan could have given the concerns of his rail members the credence they deserved politely or in a comforting tone. The reality is that such concerns need to be shouted, rather than whispered. If the members of Congress who received Regan’s written statement were startled by what they read, they absolutely should have been. It’s what the situation warrants.

But, with the large number of headline-grabbing rail accidents that have occurred since the committee hearing, including a major derailment in Rep. Van Orden’s backyard, the question becomes: Has the freshman congressman witnessed enough that he can see past the perceived tone of labor’s warnings regarding railroad safety to where he can recognize their merit? Can the freshman congressman appreciate the teamwork and structure (historically similar to the United States Military) that is required to move America forward?

The U.S. Senate currently has the Railway Safety Act of 2023 before it, bipartisan legislation sponsored by the senators of the states affected by the East Palestine derailment. Van Orden’s House of Representatives is also entertaining a companion piece of legislation but with important portions deleted, such as a measure that establishes a minimum two-person crew on freight trains and stops the industry’s attempts to run three-mile-long trains with just one person (or no one) on board.

The SMART Transportation Division, the nation’s largest freight railroad union, hopes that Rep. Van Orden can get on board with the provisions in this legislation and help to advocate for and pass unaltered the bill of Sens. Brown (D-Ohio), Vance (R-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) as they champion safety on America’s railroads. Considering his position on the House Transportation Committee, Van Orden’s support is of great importance.

Perhaps, after Rep. Van Orden heard rail labor’s concerns in February and witnessed the April 27th derailment in Ferryville, seeing will now result in believing for him.

Andy Hauck is a 28-year veteran of the Railroad industry and is the Wisconsin state legislative director for the SMART Transportation Division, a labor union comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members who work in a variety of different crafts in the transportation industry. These crafts include employees on every Class I railroad, Amtrak, many shortline railroads, bus and mass transit employees and airport personnel.

Rail safety laws are under increasing scrutiny with each new derailment. Here, firefighters look on as flames burst from a derailed train in Raymond, Minn.
Firefighters on the scene of the fiery derailment in Raymond, Minnesota.

Media outlets and elected officials continue to spotlight rail safety in the wake of derailments in East Palestine, Ohio, Raymond, Minn. and states across the country. That makes it even more crucial for SMART members, families and allies to get involved in the fight for rail safety laws, SMART-TD Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity told SMART News.

“The best way for members to get involved is to use the Action Center on our website – you go on there and you can write your representatives and let them know what your concerns are,” Cassity said. “We need everyone on board here; it’s going to take actual peer pressure and constituent pressure on our elected officials to get stuff moving and get things done.”

Watch Cassity discuss ongoing efforts to pass rail safety laws on SMART News.

The Norfolk Southern disaster showed the nation what SMART-TD members have been saying for years: precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is bad for workers, communities and the environment. Now, the heightened scrutiny has presented an opportunity for rail labor to push for new safety regulation. At the federal level, that has taken the form of the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023, legislation that includes a nationwide mandate for well-trained two-person crews on all freight trains; restrictions on train length and weight; regulations on the installation, frequency, upkeep and response to wayside defect detectors; speed restrictions; drastically increased fines for rail companies and management employees who do not adhere to rail safety protocols; and much more.

“Unfortunately, precision scheduled railroading has taken a toll, and the railroads can no longer hide behind what they’ve done to railroading. The dangers are out there for all to see, and East Palestine is proof of that,” Cassity said during his SMART News appearance. “This piece of legislation speaks to stuff that we need desperately to improve rail safety, like crew size issues, train length issues, train makeup issues, defect detector issues. It puts in place legislation that we need to start seeing the changes to put an end to PSR.”

SMART-TD officers have been lobbying U.S. Senators to support the Railway Safety Act since its introduction, with Ohio State Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker recently appearing with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown to promote the act. And that’s not all: Across the country, SMART-TD local unions have lobbied for state-level rail safety laws, forming a comprehensive effort to bring change to the industry. In Ohio, that recently culminated in the passage of two-person crew legislation.

“State Legislative Boards and State Legislative Directors are actively pursuing legislation in their states that are on the same level or in the same vein of what we’re doing federally,” Cassity said. “So our members need to reach out and contact their state directors to see what they can do to help … so [politicians] can see the support and feel the need, the desperate need that we have from our workforce to keep each other safe.”

Members looking to get involved in the fight for rail safety can text “Rail Safety” to 67336 (message and data rates may apply).


Freight rail safety in the news

Freight rail safety was the focus of the March 2023 episode of the Talking SMART podcast. SMART-TD Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity and SMART-TD Government Affairs Rep. Daniel Banks joined the podcast to discuss the fight to improve freight rail safety at both the state and federal levels in the weeks following the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. 

The East Palestine derailment and other well-publicized accidents since have made clear what SMART-TD and rail labor have been saying for years: So-called “Precision Scheduled Railroading” is bad for workers, the public and the environment.

“It speaks to the seriousness of the devastation that has been done to the railroad industry since the implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading, and it speaks to the fact that our predictions are now coming into fruition. And it’s both a shame and a frustration, and – to be quite frank – a very anger-filled reaction for us,” Cassity said. “It’s shocking to see all these derailments take place. … All of these things can be brought back to Precision Scheduled Railroading and what it’s done.”

“We need to act in solidarity” on freight rail safety

Both Cassity and Banks emphasized the importance of pushing for freight rail safety regulation across the country. Federal legislation like the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023 has already been introduced, along with bills in states across the country. Now, both guests said, SMART members, families and allies need to get involved and make sure the railroads and elected officials feel the pressure.

“We need the action. Today’s the day, and we need to capture the momentum – we need to act in solidarity,” Banks said, adding that members can get involved by texting “Rail Safety” to 67336 (message and data rates may apply).

“When it comes to combatting the railroads, what we need is membership engagement, membership interest, membership participation,” Cassity explained. “We need the members to win this fight … we have got to have the membership speaking, because they’re the constituents, they’re the influencers. The union is the voice of many, but we need the many voices to be speaking as one.”

At the end of this episode, SMART General President Joseph Sellers discussed what SMART is doing to recruit nonunion sheet metal workers and meet the workforce needs presented by megaprojects, infrastructure investment and more. Listen to the full episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Return to Talking SMART index page.


Talking SMART is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network — working people’s voices, broadcasting worldwide 24 hours a day.


Freight rail safety in the news

Those wishing to contribute donations to the community of East Palestine, Ohio, due to the major Norfolk Southern derailment Friday are urged to pitch in to assist evacuees of the village near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

The NTSB will be the lead agency for providing updates on the incident. They’ve established a Family Assistance Center to address the needs of the community and support those directly impacted.

“The community needs all the help they can get,” SMART Transportation Division Ohio State Legislative Director Clyde Whitaker said. “These are citizens of our state, our neighbors and they need some help. Let’s show everyone what we can do.”

Here are the various community outreach programs available:

Brightside Project, 483 E Pershing St. Salem OH Phone: 234-320-4005 is offering food and personal care products from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb 7-9.

First United Methodist Church, 244 S. Broadway, Salem, OH Phone: 330-337-9351 is distributing clothes 9 a.m.-noon.

The Way Station is offering food, personal care products, diapers and clothing. Collection times at 769 Springfield Rd, Columbiana OH are 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Monday – Friday. And from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. at 125 W. 5th St., East Liverpool.

Donations of non-perishable food items and personal care products can be dropped off at either location during the hours listed.

Angels for Animals is providing assistance with pet care — 330-502-5352

Norfolk Southern has opened a family assistance center that has set up at the Abundant Life Fellowship Church in New Waterford 46469 Route 46, New Waterford, OH.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been launched to investigate a 50-car Norfolk Southern derailment that caused an inferno in East Palestine, Ohio, the night of Feb. 3.

According to WKBN, a state of emergency was declared by the mayor of the village with a population of just over 4,700 people on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

No injuries were reported from the fiery accident, which news media said produced plumes of smoke that registered on Pittsburgh weather radar.

As of Saturday morning, residents located within a mile radius of the accident site were evacuated and others were urged to stay indoors while emergency personnel worked to control the fire.

The village’s mayor reported that the crew was unharmed in the accident.

NTSB investigators Ruben Payan (left) and Paul Stancil survey the scene of the Aug. 2, 2017, Hyndman, Pennsylvania, train derailment in this photo taken Aug. 4, 2017. © NTSB

WASHINGTON (Dec. 10, 2020) — The National Transportation Safety Board issued Rail Accident Report 20/04 Thursday for its investigation of the Aug. 2, 2017, CSX Transportation, Inc. freight train derailment and release of hazardous materials near Hyndman, Pennsylvania.
No injuries were reported in connection with the derailment of 33 of 178 rail cars but three homes were damaged and about 1,000 residents were within the 1-mile radius evacuation zone. CSX estimated damages at $1.8M.
The accident train consisted of five locomotives and 178 cars, 128 of which were loaded, and 50 rail cars were empty.
NTSB investigators determined the probable cause of the derailment was the inappropriate use of hand brakes on empty rail cars to control train speed, and the placement of blocks of empty rail cars at the front of the train consist. Investigators also determined CSX operating practices contributed to the derailment.
Safety issues addressed in the investigation include:

  • CSX operational practices for building train consists that allowed for excessive longitudinal and lateral forces to be exerted on empty cars
  • Use of hand brakes to control train movement
  • Assessment and response to fires involving jacketed rail tank cars

Based on its investigation the NTSB issued a total of six safety recommendations, including one to the Federal Railroad Administration, three to CSX, one to the Association of American Railroads and one to the Security and Emergency Response Training Center. The recommendations seek:

  • Guidance for railroads to use in developing required risk reduction programs
  • Revision of rules for building train consists
  • Prohibiting use of hand brakes on empty rails cars for controlling train movement in grade territory
  • Incorporation of the lessons learned from this derailment about fire-exposed jacketed pressure tank cars in first responder training programs

Rail Accident Report 20/04 is available online at https://go.usa.gov/xA3Bb and the docket for the investigation is available at https://go.usa.gov/xA3ZE.

Norfolk Southern has sued in federal court an engineer and conductor who were aboard a freight train than collided with another NS train last month in Scott County, Ky.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the suit claims the crew ignored a signal and failed to reduce the speed of their moving train and prevent the March 18 collision with a stopped train.
NS’s lawsuit seeks compensation from the crew for damages caused by the collision, which destroyed two locomotives and caused 13 cars to derail, the newspaper reported.
Read the full story at the Lexington Herald-Leader’s website.

An online fundraising effort has been started for a SMART TD conductor and an engineer who were severely injured Feb. 15 when their train derailed in Attica, N.Y.
Conductor Ben Garland of Local 1566 out of Buffalo, N.Y., and engineer Dave Tobey were hospitalized after their Norfolk Southern locomotive left the tracks and caught fire.

The fundraiser is available here: https://www.gofundme.com/dave-bens-railroad-medical-fund
Proceeds from the fund will be divided evenly among the men’s families as they recover from their injuries, which include fractures, spinal trauma and facial injuries.
A Local 1566 member who said he didn’t want to be named said he went to visit the accident site and couldn’t believe what he saw.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
Online video footage from a drone posted by WHAM TV Channel 13 out of Rochester N.Y. shows a sinkhole underneath the tracks at the accident site. Local authorities said the cause of the derailment was under investigation.
Members have been pulling together to help the families of both men as they begin the road to recovery from their injuries.
“The families have been astonished by the amount of support,” said the Local 1566 member. “We’ve worked with these people — they’re family.”

Below are the preliminary findings of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as published on their website.


On December 18, 2017, at 7:33 a.m., Pacific standard time, southbound Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) passenger train 501, consisting of a leading and trailing locomotive, a power car, 10 passenger railcars and a luggage car, traveling at 78 mph derailed from a highway overpass near DuPont, Washington.
When the train derailed, it was on its first regular passenger service trip on a single main track (Lakewood subdivision) at milepost (MP) 19.86. The lead locomotive, the power car, and two passenger railcars derailed onto Interstate 5. Fourteen highway vehicles came into contact with the derailed equipment.
At the time of the accident, 77 passengers, 5 Amtrak employees, and a Talgo Incorporated technician were on the train. Of these individuals, 3 passengers were killed, and 62 passengers and crewmembers were injured. Eight individuals in highway vehicles were also injured. The damage is estimated to be more than $40.4 million.
At the time of the accident, the temperature was 48˚F, the wind was from the south at 9 mph, and the visibility was 10 miles in light rain.
The authorized track speed north of the accident site is 79 mph and decreases to 30 mph at MP 19.8, prior to a curve. A 30-mph speed sign, was posted 2 miles before the curve on the engineer’s side of the track, to remind the operating crews of the upcoming speed restriction. Furthermore, another 30-mph speed sign was on the wayside at the beginning of the curve on the engineer’s side of the locomotive.
The lead locomotive’s event data and video recorders were successfully downloaded and processed in the NTSB’s Video Recorder laboratory in Washington, D.C. An initial review of the final portion of the accident sequence revealed the following information:

  • Inward-facing video with audio captured the crew’s actions and their conversations. A forward-facing video with audio captured conditions in front of the locomotive as well as external sounds.
  • The crew was not observed to use any personal electronic devices during the timeframe reviewed.
  • About 6 seconds prior to the derailment, the engineer made a comment regarding an over speed condition.
  • The engineer’s actions were consistent with the application of the locomotive’s brakes just before the recording ended. It did not appear the engineer placed the brake handle in emergency-braking mode.
  • The recording ended as the locomotive was tilting and the crew was bracing for impact.
  • The final recorded speed of the locomotive was 78 mph.

Positive Train Control (PTC), an advanced train control system mandated by Congress in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, is designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, overspeed derailments, incursions into established work zone limits, and the movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position. If a train does not slow for an upcoming speed restriction, PTC will alert the engineer to slow the train. If an appropriate action is not taken, PTC will apply the train brakes before it violates the speed restriction. In this accident, PTC would have notified the engineer of train 501 about the speed reduction for the curve; if the engineer did not take appropriate action to control the train’s speed, PTC would have applied the train brakes to maintain compliance with the speed restriction and to stop the train.
Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) is a public transit agency in the State of Washington. Sound Transit is the owner of the Point Defiance Bypass tracks. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is the owner of the controlling locomotive, and 11 of the 12 passenger cars. WSDOT contracts with Amtrak to operate the train service. As part of that contract with WSDOT, Amtrak provides the train crews and locomotive maintenance. Sound Transit reported that the PTC system on this line was not operational at the time of the accident. The current Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) deadline for PTC implementation is December 31, 2018.
The 55-year-old engineer had been working for Amtrak since May 2004 and had been promoted to engineer in August 2013. The other crewmember in the cab of the locomotive was a 48-year-old “qualifying” conductor who was being familiarized with the territory. This conductor had been working for Amtrak since June 2010 and had been promoted to conductor in November 2011. As of the date of this report, the NTSB has not yet been able to interview either operating crewmember of the lead locomotive due to their injuries sustained in the accident.
The parties to the investigation include the FRA; Amtrak; Sound Transit; State of Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission; Siemens Industry, Incorporated (manufacturer of the locomotive); the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.
The information in this report is preliminary and will be either supplemented or corrected during the course of the investigation.

CBS reports that high-speed, southbound Amtrak Cascades train 501 derailed on an overpass this morning near DuPont in Washington state. At least one train car crashed down onto Interstate 5 and blocked all lanes of traffic.
Authorities say that injuries and casualties have been reported but no details as to how many have been given. First responders are treating the accident as a mass casualty event.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Click here to read more from CBS.