I like to get up and read the news everyday to see what is going on in the world. I try to read different news outlets to get different perspectives on the stories. One thing that stands out to me is this constant gloom and doom that is spread through Facebook, Instagram, and these other social media sites. I thought I would address a couple of them over the next few days.
These folks vary in their topics but it’s all pretty much the same crap, day in and day out, our economy is crashing, the dollar is crashing, diesel fuel is running out, train derailments, the world is coming to an end, etc, you get the drift. Let’s take the train derailment one as I see this a lot around social media.
There were at least 1,164 train derailments across the country last year, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. That means the country is averaging roughly three derailments per day. Yet we’re not hearing left and right about derailments in various places around the country, and the main reason for that is they are not really a major event. In 2016, there were 1200 derailments, 2018, 1376 derailments. I don’t remember anyone screaming about these stats and blaming whatever political party you don’t like then, I wonder why?
Most derailments occur within the confines of rail yards and suggest that trains are safer than other modes of transportation, such as driving. Last year train derailments injured sixteen people and left one person dead, federal data shows.
Human error was the leading cause of derailments in 2022, with track defects being the second-most-common reason trains went off the rails. In many previous years, track defects were the most frequent cause. Tracks also can break and cause train car wheels to derail or a train’s wheel axles may fail over time simply because of the heavy loads and high speeds associated with modern train travel. Railroad safety is very good, even though from time to time there are incidents like [the derailment in East Palestine] that are high visibility and raise alarm with the public.
If you want something to complain about, America is the only major country in the world without a high speed railway in between major cities. Europe has these service all over between major cities. An average European rail pass cost around 276 and gets you to all the major cities. This is what America should be pushing for!
One other thing of note, Norfolk Southern annual net income for 2022 was $3.268B, an 8.82% increase from 2021. Norfolk Southern annual net income for 2021 was $3.003B, a 49.4% increase from 2020. This is the company who didn’t want to give their employees a pay raise or more time off, maybe this year they will spend some of their profits on railway safety, I guess we will have to wait and see.
For all those conspiracy theorists, gloom and doomers and folks who just want to see our country fail, railroad accidents are a part of everyday life in America. Let’s hope we don’t have any bigger one like East Palestine, Ohio, so relax, I’m sure there will be another conspiracy this week for you all to gloat over.