Former President Joe Biden-era Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has offered his support for a bill backed by President Donald Trump that aims to improve safety standards in the U.S. rail sector.
Pete Buttigieg Backs Rail Safety Bill
Sharing his thoughts on X on Thursday, Buttigieg criticized the “railroad lobby” and “conservative Republicans” who have “stood in the way” of reforms in the sector to curb derailments. Buttigieg shared a report by Axios in the post.
“President Trump is absolutely correct to demand that Congress pass the Railway Safety Act,” Buttigieg said, adding that to enhance safety, it would take the improvements that Buttigieg “put into place as Secretary and make them permanent,” he said.
He then referenced the 2023 East Palestine derailment incident when 38 cars carrying hazardous materials derailed, causing a fire incident that led to residents in the Ohio town being evacuated, calling for railroad companies to be held to the “highest safety standards.”
The train, operated by the Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC), reached a $600 million settlement in 2024 following a class action lawsuit, compensating without admitting fault for the incident.
“Democrats and Republicans should join @RepDeluzio and others who have been leading this bipartisan push to include strong rail safety reform in the transportation bill,” Buttigieg said.
It’s worth noting that the bill was first introduced in the aftermath of the East Palestine incident by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and current Vice President JD Vance in 2023.
Union Pacific Modernization Deal
Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE:UNP) and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (NYSE:WAB) signed an agreement worth $1.2 billion to modernize the railroad's AC4400 locomotives. Once complete, the fleet will include over 1,700 modernized locomotives and deliveries are slated to begin in 2027.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based company Parallel Systems is working on developing battery-electric autonomous freight trains. The company was founded by a former SpaceX engineer, Matt Soule.
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