美国国家公共电台 NPR--Report: Railroads cut costs, prioritize speed and efficiency over safety

Report: Railroads cut costs, prioritize speed and efficiency over safety

Transcript¹

A ProPublica report on a railroad cost-cutting approach called Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) concludes that a strategy that employs longer trains with fewer employees puts profits ahead of safety in the freight rail industry.

"In the past, about a 1.4 mile-long train was considered huge. Now trains are two, even three miles long. Long trains are just one tenet of PSR," said Dan Schwartz, one of the ProPublica reporters who investigated the strategy that has helped rail corporations turn record profits.

Longer trains with fewer employees can transport the same amount of cargo² in a single trip as a shorter train would in up to four trips. To achieve this, the rail industry constructs longer trains by using existing cars and positioning engines at intervals³ throughout the train to move and stop additional weight.

"Other things they're doing to reduce cost is they've dramatically laid off a lot of their workforce," Schwartz told NPR's Morning Edition. "Since 2015, they've laid off about a fifth. And a lot of those cuts have been in maintenance workers. There's fewer people to catch trains in disrepair."

Schwartz says longer trains tend to require more maintenance because greater stress is placed on more components⁴.

Although the railroad industry says PSR has led to fewer problems, data from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in 2022 reveals that the United States averaged roughly three train derailments per day.

While examining more than 600 FRA reports from 2005 to 2020, Schwartz says he and his colleagues found nearly 20 derailments associated with the long lengths of trains. Schwartz says that paints a "pretty alarming picture."

Regulators have few long train records

The investigation⁵ found that the FRA, which regulates U.S. rail safety, doesn't systematically⁶ record the length of trains. And states that have tried to enact⁷ their own rules have been rebuffed by court rulings that defer⁸ to federal agencies for such matters as safety regulation.

ProPublica consulted with experts outside the industry who suggested that longer trains are not necessarily more dangerous. But under a PSR system of doing more with less, Schwartz told NPR's A Martinez the conditions are right for long trains to be dangerous.

"Those dangers are not being mitigated," Schwartz says.

Schwartz says ProPublica's interviews with more than 200 individuals revealed concerns about sufficient training among railroad workers.

"An engineer who drives the train often needs more training to handle a long train. They aren't given that. There's a lot of other requirements that should be met to satisfy safety concerns. But to date, there's no regulation capping the length of trains," Schwartz says.

The Feb. 3 derailment in New Palestine, Ohio, of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous⁹ materials involved a train with 150 cars. Federal investigators¹⁰ believe an overheated wheel bearing caused that crash. While the length of the train has not been cited by investigators as a cause of the crash, ProPublica says PSR strategies still played a role.

Norfolk Southern dismissed safety alarm

Schwartz says his investigative team learned that Norfolk Southern has a policy that allows a help desk to wave off an alarm from a train crew. He points to a derailment of 21 cars on Oct. 8, 2022 in Sandusky, Ohio, that was preceded by an alert that a wheel was overheating.

"The detector¹¹ told the help desk, you got a problem here. And the help desk told the crew, continue on. And then minutes later, the train derailed and dumped molten wax onto what is normally a very busy street. Fortunately, no one was on the street at the time."

Schwartz notes that this policy is in line with PSR principles. According to the report, the FRA has stated it does not have sufficient evidence to suggest that longer trains pose a unique or particular risk.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

7 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

8 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

9 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。