Loading ...Train Derailments
Yesterday this was a topic on a couple of threads. Legitimate questions were asked about if this was more hype than anything else. I am already on record having asked if this was a planned political op because it was just over the PA border in OH. FEMA has turned down requests for help and while their reasons are technically within the law you can be assured if it happened in PA and not OH, Biden would be there offering help even if not the usual FEMA allowed help for natural disasters. Even if this wan’t a planned political op the Dems are definitely following their playbook of “never letting a crisis go to waste.” So if the reported 1,000 or so derailments annually in the US is accepted as normal, what level of derailments occur in other parts of the world adjusting for population, geographic size etc.? I believe we accept such inefficiency as normal when the railroads and unions who do most of the work on tracks and drive the trains etc. should be held to a higher standard.
“Is there anything to do about it? Around 1,000 derailments occur in the U.S. each year caused by collisions, conductor errors, mechanical failures, broken rails and defective wheels. While it may be hard to prevent the incidents (the latest was said to be triggered by a mechanical axle issue), there have been pushes to regulate and de-regulate new costly safety standards in recent U.S. administrations. Others have blamed the mishaps on precision-focused railroading, heavier train capacities, staff cuts and the rushing of essential safety checks.” (From Seeking Alpha)