In the US, on social media platforms, people said “several trains derailed in the same period. This is impossible. There is definitely a problem somewhere,” they said, expressing their suspicions. Before the derailment of the train carrying toxic chemicals in the state of Ohio ended, two more similar incidents took place in the states of Texas and South Carolina.
In the news on the Newsweek website of the USA, it was stated that more than ten train accidents occurred in the USA in less than two months, and this type of accidents that shocked people reached an average of 700 per year.
According to the information given by the US Department of Transportation, 4 million 500 thousand tons of toxic chemical products are transported annually by rail, and an average of 12 thousand rail vehicles carrying dangerous goods pass through cities and towns every day.
Containers running on old train lines act like a "disaster on track". Is this a coincidence?
Let's examine the accident that occurred in the state of Ohio. In the investigation report released by the US National Transportation Safety Board on February 14, it was announced that the derailment of the train could be caused by the failure of the axle wheels due to excessive heat. But many citizens think that this explanation is too technical and superficial.
In fact, if researched in depth, it is easy to realize that this accident was the result of the safety risks arising from the railroad company's pursuit of maximum profits for years.
While this showed the essence of the "all for money" purpose of the US rail system, it raised the problem of deeper development.
For the big railroad companies that transport goods in the USA, the most important function of the railroad is to "make money".
Therefore, it is the biggest task of the company to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency, and to get the profits into the pockets of the managers.
Let's take a look at the Norfolk Southern Railway company whose train in the state of Ohio belongs.
According to the news published by US press organizations, the company constantly spends money on Congress and administrative agencies that regulate transportation norms to control its cost. "Opposing the extra speed limit measure and the use of the ECP system", continuously increasing the length of the train, reducing the inspection time, increasing the train services and reducing the personnel to a large extent... As a result of taking these measures, the turnover of the company in 2022 increased by 2021 percent compared to 14, reaching 12 billion 700 reached millions of US dollars. With this figure, the company broke the historical record.
Risks are approaching when the smell of money is now dominant in the railway system.
In the article in the British Guardian newspaper, it was noted that the accident that occurred in the state of Ohio was a risk alert and reflected the constructive deficiency in the development model of the US railway sector.
In the article, it was pointed out that this was due to the "New Freedom" concept, which was guided primarily by Western countries, including the USA, after the end of the Cold War, and it was stated that this concept wanted to loosen the administration and reduce the input, since economic efficiency was emphasized in this concept.
The median event in Ohio is just the tip of the iceberg. The US has to go through deep reform, otherwise the so-called infrastructure plan will only make the rich richer.
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