After the East Palestine train derailment, are railroads any safer?

More than five months after the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan H. Shaw has doubled down on the rail company's response while also promising to become the "gold standard" of safety for the freight industry.

Yet union officials and railroad workers remain skeptical about the direction the industry is heading and whether their concerns will be heard.

In a recent interview with All Things Considered's Scott Detrow, Shaw highlighted changes that Norfolk Southern had made to improve safety and prevent future disasters, including appointing a group with experience in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program as an independent safety consultant, and implementing a six-point safety plan.

"We know that the Navy nuclear program is the gold standard of safety," Shaw said. "And we will be the gold standard of safety in the rail industry."

There were 286 reported derailments involving class I railroads in 2022 on a mainline track, according to the Federal Railroad Administration, which does not include incidents in rail yards or other work areas.