April 30, 2024 (EIRNS)—On April 26, a 35-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) train derailed and caught fire in New Mexico. Six of the cars were carrying propane. A two-mile evacuation order was put in place, and a local interstate was shut down for days. Almost two weeks prior, on April 14, approximately 35 Union Pacific train cars derailed in Chappell, Nebraska. There were no injuries and traffic was blocked for two hours on a local highway. On April 15, in Folkston, Georgia, a CSX intermodal train crashed into a standing rock train, causing two locomotives, two intermodal and two rock cars to derail. Three crew members were taken to the hospital with injuries.
Unfortunately, this is an all too common occurrence in the United States, with an average of 2.7 train derailments per day! The cause goes back to the 1980 Staggers Rail Act which deregulated the rail industry. Shortly afterwards, the rail companies consolidated into the Big 5 Rail Cartel; they have no interest in doing anything to fix the problem and won’t do anything until the American people demand a fundamental change in economic policy from the top down. Richard Freeman’s EIR article “Forty Years’ Systemic Disintegration of American Railroads” is essential reading to understand in greater depth the causes of the collapse in U.S. railroad infrastructure.
