Cleanup is underway after a coal train derailed shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday in Gothenburg, Neb., officials said.
A video shared by Twitter user @jesseambler, who says its the fourth derailment in the area in the last year, shows several derailed train cars Tuesday morning. Work crews with heavy machinery can be seen at the site, a few miles southeast of Gothenburg.
Union Pacific Railroad said no one was injured when approximately 31 Union Pacific train cars carrying coal derailed.
The derailment came just hours before U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called for new regulations to improve rail safety, in response to the release of hazardous materials after a derailment in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this month.
Profit and expediency must never outweigh the safety of the American people, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. We at USDOT are doing everything in our power to improve rail safety, and we insist that the rail industry do the same – while inviting Congress to work with us to raise the bar.
The proposed changes include accelerating the phase-in of safer tank cars, a new safety inspection program on routes over which high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) travel, and calling on Congress to raise existing caps on the fines for violations.
The agency is also calling on rail companies to provide advance notification to state emergency response teams when they are transporting hazardous materials “instead of expecting first responders to look up this information after an incident occurs.”
In addition, Buttigieg called for a train crew staffing rule requiring minimum staffing, paid sick leave for railroad workers, and protection from reprisal for workers who report safety issues.
