Posted on by

Norfolk Southern’s Profits and Accident Rates Rose Before Ohio Derailment



Share

Last month, as Norfolk Southern, one of the largest railroads in North America, reported record operating profits, Alan H. Shaw, its chief executive, told shareholders that the company’s service was “at the best it’s been in more than two years.”About a week later, one of the company’s freight trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing a controlled burn of toxic chemicals and the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Another Norfolk Southern train came off the rails near Detroit on Thursday.The accidents were a stark reminder that, even as freight railroad companies have become much more profitable in recent years, accidents, some serious, still regularly occur on the 140,000 miles of track that make up their networks.The rate of accidents on Norfolk Southern’s railway increased in each of the last four years, according to a recent company presentation. The record has worse …

Read More