Federal regulators promise reports on all major freight railroads — after disasters around the US

The Federal Railroad Administration is planning safety investigations of all the major freight railroads over the next year.

The announcement comes following a recently completed review of Norfolk Southern’s safety culture in the wake of the February fiery derailment in Ohio.

A report on what the investigation found at Norfolk Southern after the Feb. 3 derailment will be issued soon.

That crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border sparked interest in railroad safety nationwide and prompted proposed reforms from Congress.

Individual reports are coming on Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, according to a letter that FRA, Administrator Amit Bose sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The agency will also produce an industrywide report on common issues and trends.

Railroad unions have been raising concerns that operating changes the railroads have made over the past six years have made the trains that haul hazardous materials and goods of all kinds across the country more dangerous.

The railroads defend their policies saying they haven’t sacrificed safety to become more efficient. 

The industry also emphasizes that it remains the safest way to transport hazardous materials over land. 

Norfolk Southern and the other railroads have announced a number of steps they are taking to improve safety though regulators and lawmakers have called for them to do more.

Federal regulators have said that safety data hasn’t changed enough to show that the railroads’ new operating model is unsafe.

The figures do show that the rate of accidents per every million miles freight trains travel increased from 15.572 to 16.695 over the past decade even though the total number of incidents declined as railroads hauled less freight. 

Longer trains are favored by railroads because they allow them to deliver the same amount of freight with fewer crews and locomotives.