Railroad companies fail to join safety program after toxic East Palestine, Ohio, derailment

Two and a half years after a derailed train spewed toxic gases across eastern Ohio, none of the nation’s largest freight railroads have fulfilled promises to join a voluntary federal close call program designed to reduce rail hazards and prevent accidents.

Two railroads — BNSF and Norfolk Southern — launched partial trials but haven’t fully joined the program. A federal working group formed to negotiate railroad participation recently disbanded.

Railroads complained that the safety program — which lets employees report safety issues and close calls without facing discipline — was cumbersome and no better than their own internal processes.

But Amtrak and smaller freight and passenger railroads across the country do participate and studies show the program reduced accidents by approximate