State, local leaders hold railway safety hearing
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - State and local leaders met Friday in Pittsburgh to talk about unsafe practices in the railroad industry.
This included what may have led to derailments, including the one in East Palestine, Ohio. The hearing addressed the factors that can contribute to these incidents and what the government can do to improve standards.
"In the response phase, we have a 24-hour watch and warning center. We talked about trying to get the constants from the trains, those kinds of things. Usually, our 24-hour warning center will be the warning point, so the counties are going to communicate if there's a rail incident. We will also get notification from the National Response Center about rail incidents that may occur, and we'll actually start piecing things together," Randy Padfield, the Director of the Pa. Emergency Management Agency, said.
The hearing was co-hosted by Sens. Katie Muth, Lindsey Williams, and Wayne Fontana.