Fast Trains, Toxic Chemicals: Why Rail Safety Is Still a Problem

In the year since the derailment of a Norfolk Southern Inc. train brought national attention to US railroad safety, little has changed.

Trains are still rolling through East Palestine, Ohio, at 50 miles per hour — the same speed allowed last February when an accident spilled toxic chemicals in the rural town. Bipartisan safety legislation proposed a month after the crash is bogged down in the Senate. And derailments are happening at roughly the same pace.

One difference is that railroad executives have been forced to pay closer attention to safety after witnessing Norfolk Southern incur $1.1 billion in costs ...