Rep. Sykes Hosts “Rail Week” Highlighting Need to Improve Rail Safety
AKRON, OH— This week, U.S. Representative Emilia Strong Sykes (OH-13) hosted “Rail Week” in Ohio’s 13th District to emphasize the need to pass the bipartisan Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act to improve rail safety in our communities. Throughout the week, Rep. Sykes also highlighted the importance of investing in rail infrastructure to better connect residents and grow our local economies.
“Rail Week is an opportunity to highlight the key role railroads play in transporting people and goods across the country. Every constituent in Ohio’s 13th District, no matter where they live, is somehow connected to our railroads, whether they cross rail tracks on their drive to work or consume products delivered by freight trains,” said Rep. Sykes. “That’s why it’s critical that we pass commonsense, bipartisan legislation like the RAIL Act to prevent train derailments, protect our communities, and hold railroad corporations accountable. No American should ever have to worry about the threat of a toxic train derailment in their backyard.”
Rail Week included the following events:
- A meeting with Stark County Engineer Keith Bennett to discuss the status of the county’s railways and receive an overview of ongoing rail infrastructure projects;
- A ride aboard Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s self-propelled diesel car, where Rep. Sykes spoke with Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) Superintendent Lisa Petit, CVNP Deputy Superintendent Karen Dorn, CVNP Assistant Superintendent Mary Pat Doorley, CVNP Civil Engineer Rafia Mileti, Cuyahoga Valley Railroad President/CEO Joe Mazur, and volunteer conductors about the park’s ongoing projects to stabilize the railway in areas where slope instability and erosion has occurred; and
- A discussion with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to discuss efforts to clean up and assist the people impacted by the train derailment in East Palestine. During this conversation, Rep. Sykes reiterated her commitment to passing the RAIL Act to hold railroad corporations accountable for the safety of our communities.
Rep. Sykes and Rep. Bill Johnson (OH-06) introduced the RAIL Act last month. The RAIL Act would improve railway safety and operations by:
- Directing the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate new rules to improve safety based off the findings of the NTSB investigation in conjunction with the Federal Railroad Administration
- Increasing inspections on all trains, including those carrying hazardous materials
- Requiring railroad corporations to provide notification in advance to pertinent to State emergency response commissioners, tribal emergency response commission, or any other State or tribal agency regarding the transportation of hazardous materials
- Strengthening requirements pertaining to safety placards that would have assisted emergency responders in identifying the hazardous materials in the rail cars on-site
- Strengthening regulations to prevent wheel bearing failures, which caused the East Palestine train derailment
- Increasing maximum penalties for violations of rail safety regulations
- Increasing funding for Hazardous Materials Training for First Responders
- Auditing federal rail inspection programs.