U.S. train derailment reveals grave system flaws: The Guardian

LONDON, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The recent derailment and explosion of a train carrying vinyl chloride near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border in the United States revealed grave flaws of the country's rail system, British newspaper The Guardian has reported.

The Ohio catastrophe is "wake-up call" to dangers of more deadly train derailments, said the report published Saturday.

It said the incident forced thousands to evacuate in East Palestine, a town of about 5,000 people.

Ron Kaminkow, an Amtrak locomotive engineer and former Norfolk Southern freight engineer, blamed "ineffective oversight and a largely self-monitoring industry that has cut the nation's rail workforce to the bone in recent years as it puts record profits over safety."

The Pittsburgh region alone has seen eight train derailments over the last five years, according to the public health advocacy group Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh, and about 1,700 annually occur nationally.

U.S. rail companies laid off more than 20,000 rail workers during a year period in 2018-2019, representing the biggest layoffs in rail since the Great Recession. The nation's rail force has since dipped below 200,000, the lowest level ever, and down from 1 million at its peak, said the report.