Railroad Company Lobbied Against Safety Changes Before Ohio Train Derailment

Last weekend, a cargo train carrying toxic chemicals derailed and caught fire in Ohio. Earlier this week, those chemicals reached a critical point, and authorities released them into the atmosphere to prevent them from building up explosive pressure in the train cars themselves. But since the earliest hours of the crash, people have wondered: How did this happen?

Now, it seems we’re getting answers. Early reports cited a mechanical failure with one of the train’s axles that led the crew to pull the emergency brake. But that brake didn’t stop the train — it still crashed, leading to the evacuations we’ve seen over the past few days. But a new report suggests why those brakes allowed the train to run away: Lobbying from the railway company, Norfolk Southern.

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