WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Fetterman said Tuesday that Congress has failed communities affected by the Norfolk Southern train derailment along the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, renewing his call for rail safety reforms three years after the toxic crash upended lives and landscapes.
On the anniversary of the derailment, Fetterman said the incident was preventable and criticized lawmakers for not advancing legislation aimed at strengthening railroad oversight. He urged passage of the Railway Safety Act, which would increase penalties for railroads involved in hazardous spills and expand safeguards to prevent future derailments. Fetterman co-led the bipartisan bill with then-Senator JD Vance and former Senator Sherrod Brown in 2023. The measure cleared the Senate Commerce Committee but never reached a floor vote.
Fetterman, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, also pointed to other efforts introduced in the wake of the derailment, including the Railway Accountability Act and legislation to support first responders during hazardous train emergencies. He said affected communities such as East Palestine and Darlington Township remain without the protections promised in the aftermath of the crash.
Federal health officials have launched a long-term study into the derailment’s consequences. In September 2025, the National Institutes of Health began a five-year, $10 million program to examine health impacts in western Pennsylvania and...
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