10x20 - Freight railroads in the United States

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to "Last Week Tonight"!
I'm John Oliver.

Thank you so much for joining us.
It has been a busy week.

Taylor Swift was named
Time's Person of the Year,

Donald Tr*mp won another debate
that he didn't even attend,

and the BBC gave us
the single greatest opening

to a news broadcast of all time.

Live from London,
this is BBC News.

Excellent. Just first-rate
middle finger work there.

I love how quickly her expression
went from "playful goof"

to "constipated robot."

But we're gonna start in Congress
tonight, where this week,

former House speaker Kevin McCarthy
announced his plans to leave

before his term was even up.

You may remember,
he was drummed out of his job

because he was seen as too much
of a moderate, and replaced

by Mike Johnson, who looks like
he's the model for Just for Hobbits,

Touch of Grey.

Johnson is now at the center of some
of the most important fights

in Washington, from the need to avert
a government shutdown,

to securing critical funding
for Ukraine.

And this week, he continued
to remind everyone

that beneath his mild-mannered exterior
lurks a far-right conservative.

On Tuesday, following up on
his promise to make 44,000 hours

of January 6th footage available
to the public,

he told reporters
he'd made a crucial edit.

We have to blur some of the faces
of persons who participated

in the events of that day

because we don't want them
to be retaliated against,

and to be charged by the DOJ.

It's true! Johnson announced
that he wanted to protect

insurrectionists' anonymity
by blurring their faces.

Which is ridiculous. These people
were a part of an armed insurrection.

Also, there was merch.
It wasn't exactly a secret.

And Johnson is heavily implicated
in what happened on January 6th,

take it from Steve Bannon.

Here's the important thing on Johnson,
he is part of the Tr*mp era.

He was one
of the intellectual architects

of pushing back
on the stolen election.

Set aside the fact he called it
"the stolen election,"

and that he used the term "intellectual
architect" for an argument

that basically amounted
to "Nuh-uh, I'm the president".

Even set aside his hair there,

which makes him look like
the oldest T-Bird in "Grease"

applying to business school,
Steve Bannon is right.

Johnson led the amicus brief
in support of the Texas lawsuit

to invalidate the election in 2020.

Now, was that a good thing?
Unreasonable people can disagree.

But his involvement is not something
Republicans want you to ask about.

Just after he was nominated
as speaker,

there was this memorable moment.

You helped lead the efforts
to overturn the 2020 election results.

I hate to be that guy,
but "Boo! Shut up!" is not "No".

And quick shout-out to Virginia Foxx
there, repeatedly yelling "shut up"

in the same tone as a drunk grandma
at Thanksgiving being told

that she can't sneak the dog
any more turkey skin.

"Shut up! Bosco loves it!
He's just hungry! Shut up! Boo!"

And if there was any hope Johnson
might moderate his views

now that he's speaker,
that is gone.

Last week, he sent a fundraising
email expressing alarm

that high schoolers increasingly
identify as LGBTQ,

and on Tuesday, received an award

from the National Association
of Christian Lawmakers

"for Christian Honor and Courage,"
at a gala featuring a TV evangelist

who claimed "h*m* is three
times worse than smoking."

Which is absurd. The only thing
a smoking habit

and someone's sexuality
have in common

is that they could both be strongly
influenced by this picture of Joe Camel.

Look at him, broad as f*ck
and tailored tight.

He's not just serving humps,
he's causing them.

And because there was so little vetting
before Johnson became speaker,

we keep discovering
new unsettling facts about him,

like that he apparently uses
an app that alerts him

if his son looks at p*rn online,
and vice versa.

It scans all the activity on your phone,
or your devices,

your laptop, tablet,
what have you, we do all of it.

It sends a report
to your accountability partner.

So, my accountability partner
right now is Jack, my son. Right?

And so, he's 17. So, he and I get
a report about all the things

that are on our phones, or all
of our devices, once a week.

If anything objectionable comes up,

your accountability partner gets
an immediate notice.

I'm proud to tell you,
my son has a clean slate.

Okay. First, obviously, if Mike
Johnson's son is watching this,

I'm really sorry. Your dad seems
like a lot.

And if he is watching this online,

then I guess Mike probably is, too.
Hi, Mike!

You must've got the alert after
we showed that picture of the camel.

And while everyone is focusing on his
son's activity being sent to him,

that son is also getting a report
of his dad's internet activity.

Which might be worse.

Not just because it's traumatizing
to learn that your dad searched

for "the sex stuff, lights off,
shirts on."

But also because having access
to your dad's non-p*rn searches

is basically a crystal ball
into your own future.

"Shampoo for thinning hair,"
"knee clicking cancer question mark,"

"is Viagra Christian,"

that is a dark glimpse into tomorrow
no 17-year-old wants.

The app he's talking about
is called Covenant Eyes.

And if you're a company trying to
stop people from constantly thinking

about sex, maybe don't make
your logo look like a tantalizing hole.

There are even ads for the app,
and they are spectacular.

So, what's better
than just a p*rn blocker?

Using a p*rn blocker
with accountability.

Accountability enables a trusted friend
to see how you're using your device.

Even if p*rn slips
through the cracks,

someone else knows
and can help you get back on track.

That's something p*rn blockers
can never do.

Wait, hold on a second.

Are we absolutely sure
this is an anti-p*rn app?

Because these two have
definitely f*cked.

"Hey! How's it going?
Want to get together?"

When you know someone is
masturbating could just as easily be

a text that says, "U up? Smiley face
tongue-out emoji."

And that's not the only ad. I know
the animated characters were weird,

but wait until you see humans
get involved.

Introducing Covenant Eyes,
the app that helps you fight p*rn

by keeping you accountable.
Just download the app,

choose a friend or family member
to be your ally, and quit p*rn for good.

Here's how it works. Periodically,
your ally will receive a report

of any online activity, and any risky
activity is called out in the report.

Before Covenant Eyes,
I often found myself feeling weak

in tempting situations.

But now, knowing that Jeff
will know if I struggle?

That's enough to give me the extra
strength I need to win the fight.

No! Do not bring Jeff into this!
He's at work!

He doesn't need to get
up-to-the-minute notifications

about you scraping your ape
to "step-sibling p*rn, long legs."

I feel like this app may be having
the opposite of its intended effect.

I'm just saying,
if I were this guy's wife,

I'd worry less about the p*rn thing,
and more about the Jeff thing.

Not only are they sharing their p*rn
searches with each other,

they're also going
on cute muffin dates,

a level of intimacy his wife
can only imagine!

And just look how happy Jeff seems
to make him! He's glowing there!

His wife better open her eyes
and realize

that there are three people in this
marriage, and she is the third.

And look, while this is very fun,
a few things.

First, it's probably not ideal
for national security

if a guy second in line to the
presidency has that app on his phone.

But also, the stuff people are now
unearthing about Mike Johnson

extends beyond the personal.

Just last week, it emerged that he'd
both promoted and written

the forward
for "The Revivalist Manifesto,"

a book by a right-wing blogger
that, among other things,

"gives credence to unfounded
conspiracy theories including

the Pizzagate hoax"
and disparages poor voters

as "unsophisticated and susceptible
to government dependency"

who are "easy to manipulate
with Black Lives Matter,"

"defund the police pandering."
A pretty clear dog whistle.

Now, a Johnson spokesperson insists
he never read those passages,

which he strongly disagrees with,

and that "he wrote the foreword
as a favor,

not as an endorsement
of all the opinions expressed."

But Johnson himself would disagree
with that,

given what he said last year
on his own podcast.

I obviously believe in the product, or
I wouldn't have written the foreword.

So, I endorse the work.
Look, I love it. I love the book.

Everybody can go and get the book.
I highly recommend it.

Yeah, it turns out his endorsement
was pretty full-throated.

Which, incidentally, is a Google image
search strictly off-limits

to Mike and his son.

I'm sure that's not the last upsetting
revelation that we're gonna get

about him. But it's too late.
He's already speaker.

For all the fear of a second Tr*mp
term, it is worth remembering

our current speaker of the House
is an anti-LGBT bigot

who believes in more accountability
for his son's search history

than he does for the people who tried
to overthrow the government.

But thankfully,
this isn't insurrection footage,

he can't blur his views
and hope no one notices.

Because, much like his son,
we're all, unfortunately,

now watching him.
And now, this.

And now:

Everyone on CBS Mornings Wants
to f*ck Meteorologist Jim Cantore.

We turn to a guy that we love
to talk to at times like this.

Meteorologist Jim Cantore from our
partners at the Weather Channel.

Jim, good morning.
What is the winter outlook?

We'll follow the storms
from start to finish.

I know you're on top of it. You
look electric in that electric blue.

Thank you, Jim Cantore.

Meteorologist Jim Cantore,
looking dapper as usual.

Who picked out your outfit
this morning? You look really good.

Thank you, Jim Cantore.

May I just say, you look very dapper
this morning. Thank you.

Thank you, darling. I appreciate that.

I see you got the blue memo today,
by the way.

We're looking good, Jim.
Thank you very much.

Don't adjust your TV. That's not
Mr. Clean doing the weather report.

That's the great Jim Cantore.

Thank you so much.
Hope to talk with you soon.

Have a happy and safe one. Nate,
back to you.

Thank you. I know one thing.

I'm going to stay away from eating
my kids' candy

so I can fill out my jacket like you do.

The weather might be dry,
but you are not.

Jim Cantore, thank you so much.

Jim, thank you so much.
I appreciate it.

And you look good in that blazer, man.

You make me want to get
in the weight room.

Let's just hope this week's weather
doesn't give us as many surprises

as we got with the Packers
and the Chiefs last night.

Holy smoke. What happened?

No doubt about it. I don't know.

But the way that you are built,
the Chiefs could have used you.

Jim Cantore, we appreciate you.

Moving on. Our main story tonight
concerns trains. In the 1800s,

the preferred method
of murdering damsels.

And nowadays, antidepressants
for middle-aged dads.

Trains aren't just a mode
of transportation

they're beloved children's characters in
shows like "Thomas the t*nk Engine"

except, not that one.

I'm talking about the British original
narrated by Ringo Starr,

which is much darker.

Take this episode, in which Henry
the Green Engine gets frightened

of the rain,
and won't come out of a tunnel.

Everyone begs him
and then yells at him.

Thomas even tries to physically
push him out.

Then finally, the head of the railway
steps in with a drastic solution.

"We shall take away your rails,"
he said,

"and leave you here for always
and always and always."

They took up the old rails
and built a wall in front of him

so that Henry couldn't get out
of the tunnel anymore.

Yeah, the British version
of "Thomas" didn't f*ck around.

An episode whose premise is
"stop complaining about work

or we'll throw you
in your forever hole,"

has gotta be one of the most disturbing
episodes of children's TV ever,

right up there with the episode
of "Blue's Clues"

where Blue reveals herself
to be the Zodiac k*ller.

C'mon, Steve:
the clues were a handgun

a Zodiac symbol, and an issue of the
San Francisco Chronicle from 1969,

she basically wanted to get caught!

And if you're thinking, "well, surely
that was the midpoint of the episode,

and Henry was eventually allowed
out so there'd be a happy ending

with all his friends," it wasn't.
This is how it ends.

He wondered if he would ever
be allowed to pull trains again.

But I think he deserved
his punishment, don't you?

Look, there are children's shows,

and then there are
British children's shows,

and that is why I am,
and this is true, like this.

But we're going to be talking about
one kind of train in particular tonight,

freight trains.

And let me just say for the record,
this show is pro-train.

They are objectively good.
They're fast, they're loud,

and they make noises like
"chugga-chugga, choo-choo,"

and "ding-ding-ding-ding-ding."
I love trains.

And freight trains are essential.

We rely on them to transport around
"28% of the country's freight."

And while trucks also carry freight
great distances

and have some pretty hit sounds
of their own, to wit,

trains are much better
for the environment,

as they only account for 2% of U.S.
transportation emissions.

But unfortunately, as we saw earlier
this year, in East Palestine, Ohio,

when freight trains go off the rails,
they can cause immense damage.

That crash incurred an estimated cost
of at least $803 million

in total damages,

and 80% of residents surveyed say
they've experienced headaches, rash

coughs, eye irritation, and diarrhea

and about 40% say they suffer
from PTSD.

But while that was
a particularly nasty derailment,

the truth is, it shouldn't have been
that surprising.

Last year, there were more than


That means an average
of three per day.

And while most occur in rail yards
and aren't major incidents,

the ones that occur outside of them
can cause a huge mess.

The flaming freight train inferno
outside Phoenix, Arizona,

derailing on a bridge in Tempe.

A runaway train derailing in the Mojave
Desert causing a m*nled mess.

Tonight, new dash cam video shows
the moment a Norfolk Southern train

derailed in Springfield, Ohio.

From Live Copter 3, an exclusive view
at the Union Pacific train derailment.



A red substance was spilled, but
officials have not confirmed what it is.

Look, none of that is good,

but the phrase "a red substance
was spilled"

"but officials have not confirmed
what it is" is truly chilling.

It sounds less
like a legitimate news report

and more like the first draft
of a Stephen King novel.

So, train derailments happen a lot.

And experts say the reason
we haven't had massive loss of life

in this country as a result
is more luck than anything else.

The railroads are going
to keep flirting with danger,

keep flirting with disaster,
as long as people are getting rich.

I don't want to say that we dodged
a b*llet in East Palestine.

But the next one may be
in a major urban area.

It may be in a downtown Chicago.

It may be in a downtown
New York City.

It is terrifying to think a train
disaster like East Palestine

could happen in New York.

Partly because I live here,

and partly because New Yorkers
are dealing with enough dread

and panic as it is.

We are a perpetual terror target,

we got the country's first big wave
of Covid,

we had a biblical plague
of lanternflies last summer,

and there's an army of creepy Elmos
running rampant in Times Square.

We don't have the anxiety bandwidth
to also worry

about a giant train full of poison
exploding in the middle of the city.

So, if freight trains have the power
to cause that much damage,

tonight, let's talk about them.

And let's start with the fact that
the freight rail industry used to be

heavily regulated.

But in the 1970s, after the interstate
highway system came along,

and rail shipping lost a lot
of business to trucking,

there was pressure to deregulate the
industry so that it could compete.

And in 1980, a lot of the controls that
we'd had in place were removed

allowing for huge consolidation
of railroad companies,

to the point where, while there used
to be over 100 Class 1 railroads

in North America, there are now just
six extremely powerful companies.

And much of the oversight
of safety is left

to the Federal Railroad Administration,
which is a fairly weak regulator.

And it's not just me saying that.

A government report found that
the agency itself estimates

its inspectors can inspect
less than 1% of the railroad activities

covered in regulation.

And as a result, railroads themselves
have the primary responsibility

for the safety of the railroad system.

And if history has taught us anything,
that's not a good formula

for positive outcomes.

If anything, the formula
is "industry plus deregulation"

"minus government oversight equals
episode of Last Week Tonight".

And guess what, guys?
Here we are!

Although I will give the FRA
some credit

it does produce some spectacular
railway-safety videos

to show you what not to do
around train tracks.

sh**t. I think the car just d*ed.

Seriously, this is not happening.

Why did we stop?
What happened?

- Are we stuck?
- It's fine.

We'll sit here for a minute,
and I will call someone.

But what if there's a train coming?

Don't worry.
There's never a train here.

And I'm sure we would hear one
coming from pretty far away.

What are you doing?
It is hard to pick a favorite reaction

from the world's calmest or dumbest
mom there.

"I think the car just d*ed,"
when your car clearly d*ed

is an obvious hall of famer

but for my money, I'm gonna go
with the absolute blind confidence

of "there's never a train here,"

a fact she cannot know and doesn't
seem to totally believe herself.

Also, and this isn't hugely important,
but "I will call 'someone"?

Who exactly do you think you'd call?

And how do you think
that call would go?

"Hi, my car broke down
on some train tracks,"

"I'm in the car with my children."

"Get out of the car and off the tracks."

"I'm pretty sure there's never
a train here."

"Really? 'Cause trains generally
go where the tracks are."

"Put one of your children
on the phone."

"Are you going to send someone
to help me, officer?"

"Lady, I'm not even the police,"

"this is just a number that you called,
get off the f*cking tracks."

But back to the FRA.
As I was saying,

the problem is that they have limited
insight into what's actually happening

on the rails.

And not every problem is as easy
to solve as taking away

this woman's driver's license forever.

As we learned in East Palestine,
some trains haul hazardous materials,

and the truth is, neither the FRA,

nor anyone else knows
they're there. Which is wild.

It is crazy that the FAA knows about
the exact location

of 5,000 planes in the sky,

but the FRA can't tell you where most
trains are or what they contain.

in the New York
area a while back,

people got pretty alarmed when
they learned that volatile crude oil

was being transported
right along the Hudson River.

This is the greatest thr*at
to the Hudson I've experienced.

These trains that run for almost


carrying highly expl*sive crude oil

in rail cars that were not designed
for this, that shear on impact.




very volatile fuel.

When it comes down to it,

each of these train cars
is like a rolling b*mb.

It's true! And that is not unique
to the Hudson rail line.

Trains that carry combustible cargo are
regularly referred to by rail workers

as "b*mb trains."
Which is terrifying!

"b*mb train" doesn't sound like
something that should ever be allowed

on a railway, it sounds like the title
of a Jason Statham movie

that's got 27% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But "rolling b*mb" is a pretty
accurate description.

Just 22 train cars carrying liquefied
natural gas hold

the equivalent blast energy of the
nuclear b*mb dropped on Hiroshima.

And there've been incidents where
train cars full of crude oil

have exploded in populated areas.

In Canada in 2013, there was an
expl*si*n in the area of Lac-Megantic

that k*lled 47 people
and left the town looking like this,

which may not seem so alarming,

until you see what that exact spot
looked like before the blast.

It's hard to tell, but if you look
very closely, you'll notice

that the town part of that town
is gone.

And the notion that profits might be
getting prioritized over safety

is in keeping with the larger trend
shaping the freight rail industry.

Because, like many big companies,

these giant railway firms have felt
increasing pressure to squeeze

margins to please investors.

And that brings us to the key trend in
freight rail over the past few decades,

precision scheduled railroading,

or PSR. It's the brainchild
of this man, Hunter Harrison.

Seen here mid-colonoscopy.

Until his death six years ago,

Harrison worked as a CEO
at four major railroads,

and his philosophy of PSR has now
taken over the entire industry.

And it's about aggressively
pursuing efficiency.

To that end, "Railroads
have closed facilities,"

"retired locomotives and railcars,
and cut workers to lower costs."

And all of that is the kind of stuff
that makes Wall Street idiots

extremely happy.
In fact, here's one of them now!

Hunter Harrison!
The new darling of Wall Street.

Harrison will implement a strategy

that's known as precision
scheduled railroading.

He's already changed routes
and schedules

and the way the company
sorts long trains.

He actually maps them out in his own
living room. I'm not kidding.

This guy's the real deal.
The guy is the train whisperer.

Cool! You know a person is pretty
awesome if they get a ringing,

sound-effect-laden endorsement
on an esteemed show

like "Big Bucks Word Puke
with Captain Money Clown".

But it's true. Hunter Harrison was
the type of guy who mapped

train routes out at home.

He was also the type of guy

who "looked for even the smallest
ways to cut costs,"

from tearing up unused tracks

to eliminating overnight stays
for train crews.

He even flew around in a corporate jet
with a tail number that read OR59,

his aspirational operating ratio.

Presumably, something that made him
so happy, he smiled like this.

But that efficiency for the companies
has come at tremendous cost

to everyone else. And let's start with
one of things that may be less obvious.

Because a key component of precision
scheduled railroading

is running fewer,
but much longer trains.

And I mean much longer.

Some trains now stretch
nearly three miles long.

And those longer trains aren't just
dangerous when they're moving,

they can also be dangerous
when they're not.

Trains frequently need to stop
to allow other trains to pass,

or to work on mechanical issues.

And tracks were built
to accommodate this,

with sidings alongside the main line,
where trains can pull over.

The problem is, those sidings were
built when trains were much shorter,

and nowadays,
when they are multiple miles long,

they can wind up stretching back
onto the main track,

and possibly across roads,
blocking traffic.

And that is one reason
why this can happen.

For some East End neighborhoods,
this has become

a way too unwelcome soundtrack.

The bells start, traffic stops,
this driver sleeps,

this guy climbs over, this one,
too, another right under.

All of it without a thought to the
potentially deadly consequences.

The wait just becomes too long.

Well, how often does this happen,
Lorenzo?

Just about every day.

That's true, in certain towns, trains
can block traffic, and for hours.

And it's not like they can quickly
get out of the way by turning around.

Trains are like Liam Payne, they
really only work in one direction.

Last year alone, there were more
than 30,000 reports

of blocked train crossings
across the nation

with nearly 1,000 blocked
for more than a day.

And that can mean people wind up
making risky decisions to get to work,

or even to school.

It's the kind of moment
that takes your breath away.

little girl in a bright red coat,
tiny arms and legs

wiggling underneath a train car
that could move at any moment.

It's quiet as she dusts herself off,
casually picks up her bookbag

and a dropped water bottle,
and carries on.

That is tough to watch,

but I guess it is kind of nice for
the younger generation to have

an immediate counter whenever
their older relatives complain

about how they used to walk
to school in the snow.

"Oh, was it cold, Grandpa?
Did ya get chilly?"

"I guess I wasn't really thinking about
the weather when I was crawling"

"under a train that could crush
my tiny arms and legs"

"to get to f*cking homeroom on time!"

And while that girl, thankfully,
was okay, others haven't been.

Pedestrians trying to cut through
trains have been d*sfigured,

dismembered, and k*lled, after
the trains suddenly started moving.

On top of which, blocked train crossings
can also seriously delay

emergency services, like fire engines
or ambulances,

as this Oklahoma man
knows all too well.

I think it's gonna take a major tragedy
for the railroad company to wake up

and decide that they're going to do
something.

That was about
six and a half years ago.

Chad Byrd complaining about
these tracks near their home.

And at the time, sitting on the only
crossing to get to their home.

I think the major concern is,
if somebody's injured,

trying to get an ambulance
to that side.

Fast-forward to early September
of 2020.

Chad's premonitions
becoming reality.

His father, Larry Gene Byrd,
dying from a heart att*ck,

and emergency vehicles were stuck
behind a train on those same tracks.

When emergency crews arrived,

police asked the conductor
if it could be moved.

He said no.
The lawsuit adding that he quote,

"closed the locomotive's window"

"and would not respond
to any further questions."

That is awful. And while it is not
the most important thing,

are we all just allowed to just close
our windows and not talk to cops?

Or is that only for train conductors?

Because if so, I will buy one of those
stupid little hats tomorrow.

But also, I wouldn't call his prediction
a "premonition" there.

It was an easily foreseeable
consequence of poor policy.

And that is not a one-off.
There have been multiple similar stories

of people dying
and houses burning down

after emergency vehicles
were delayed at crossings.

But longer stopped trains are just the
beginning of the issues with PSR.

There is also the issue of what
the relentless drive for savings

does to workers.

Even as trains got longer, staffing has
been cut to ridiculously low levels.

Just watch as a union leader explains
to a flabbergasted news anchor,

right after East Palestine,

just how low these levels
had become.

Look, if you add more
and more cars to these trains,

you're introducing more
and more points of potential failure.

And that's why it's really alarming that
the railroad industry actually wants

to cut back the number of people
operating on a train from two,

as is the current standard,
to one.

I'm sorry. Hold on.
Are you saying that as of now,

a train with 150 cars and that
is carrying hazardous material,

vinyl chloride, whatever,

as a standard,
only has two people operating it?

Yeah, that's correct.
One conductor, one engineer.

- And they want to cut it down to one.
- Yes.

Right, one person.
Which is absurd.

Trains need an engineer
to drive the train

and a conductor for the rest of it.

It's not one of those jobs where
we have two people do it,

even though it clearly
only requires one,

like anchoring the news or renovating
a home,

or hosting the 2011 Oscars.

And people who work on these trains
will tell you,

every part of their job
is exhausting now.

For example, when there
are mechanical or other problems

that cause a train to stop,

the conductor may have to walk from
the lead locomotive to the problem area

and back again.

Which could mean walking four miles
to the end and back

on a two-mile long train.

Workers are being stretched so thin that
they're now working ridiculous hours

and required to be on call, forcing them
to pick and choose between work

and their families,
and even medical appointments.

Until recently, when workers wanted
to take a sick day at BNSF,

the largest freight railroad
in the U.S.,

they had to schedule them a month
in advance,

and only for Tuesday,
Wednesday, or Thursday.

And I don't know
how BNSF thinks illnesses work,

but the flu doesn't have
a Microsoft Outlook calendar

where you can look at its schedule
and book your infection

at a time that works for both of you.

And while BNSF changed
that policy this fall,

it's still in effect
at other major railroads.

A former union head sums up
the situation like this.

As we say, you either go to work
sick and tired or you get fired.

That's really what this
has come down to.

Look, it is never a good sign when
conditions are so bleak,

you've come up with
a catchy little rhyme for it.

Also, no one should get fired
for being sick.

As far as punishments go
for not being able to work one day,

it's right up there with being entombed
in the tunnel of constant punishment.

And having sick, tired workers
is bad across the board,

but it gets much worse when
you realize some of those workers

are the ones who inspect
the trains to keep them safe.

And the time allotted for that
keeps shrinking.

One former railroader says Norfolk
Southern's inspectors

"used to have five to eight minutes
to check a train car's wheels"

"for problems like leaky bearings
or damaged components."

Now, it's often between


And worse still, employees feel
that they can't speak out

as a result of a pattern of retaliation
against workers who report

safety violations or injuries.

One whistleblower even sued
his company,

and had some pretty compelling
evidence on his side.

Don Sanders, a former BNSF track
inspector in Minnesota,

secretly recorded calls
with his supervisor back in 2015.

In this recording,
obtained by 5 Investigates,

you'll hear what happened
when the boss found out

Sanders called the Federal Railroad
Administration.

Why in the world would
we ever call FRA about anything?

Unless I'm absolutely blatantly
telling you to break rules,

or don't do something.

Is that against the company rules?

It's not good.

I called him and asked him a question,
Keith. I don't understand.

I don't want you doing that.

That is automatically suspicious.

If you work at a restaurant
and your boss tells you

that under no circumstances should
you ever call the health inspector,

best case scenario,
he is being Ratatouilled,

but that's the best case.

That inspector was later fired, in what
a jury later agreed was retaliation

for reporting too many track defects.

And another rail worker
sums it all up like this.

The railroad, probably 100 years ago,
came up with safety first.

When precision scheduled
railroading came out,

they gave us a list of priorities
that we were to work by.

Safety's fourth.

Here's the thing, that is true. Safety
is fourth! He's not embellishing there.

Hunter Harrison would frequently run
down a numbered list

of his guiding principles,
which started with "service,"

then "cost control,"
then "asset utilization,"

and then, and only then, "safety."
It was literally fourth on the list.

And once you get past three items
on a priority list,

anything after that
isn't a priority by definition.

It's like ranking your favorite Beatles.

There are three that you care about,
and one afterthought

who narrates sadistic children's
shows about abused trains.

And at one hearing, when Harrison
was running through his list

and eventually got to safety,

he wound up making
a pretty striking confession.

The fourth portion of this, is,

which we sometimes don't pay
the appropriate attention to,

is just simply don't get anybody
hurt while you're doing this.

Now, we can be very sophisticated.

And we can talk about risk
management and loss of control

and programs and processes
and so forth.

I got blood all over my hands
from injuries in this industry

that should've been avoidable.

I've got to say, after 10 seasons
of showing you executives denying

their neglect,
that is almost refreshing.

It's the kind of honesty you only
usually get from a guy like that

after he's been visited
by the ghosts of Christmas.

And look, railway companies will tell
you that safety has always been

important to them.

And they'll point out that derailments
have fallen by 44% since 2000.

Which is true, although I'll point out
that some of that is because

we're running far fewer trains
since then.

Also, the rate of derailments
for large railroads

has been creeping up again
in recent years.

One railway veteran describes a major
crash as just a matter of time, fearing

"there's going to be a freight train
that hasn't been inspected"

"in 90,000 miles that comes off
the track, and either explodes"

"or leaks poisonous gas out."

"It's going to take something like that,
and a lot of deaths,"

"and then all of a sudden
everybody's going to care."

You've now heard that exact sentiment
multiple times in this piece,

and he's probably right.

And look, the solution here isn't
to turn away from rail.

Again, trains are good, because for
one, they're still safer than trucking

and two,
as we've already established,

chugga chugga, choo choo,
ding ding ding, trains are fun.

But that doesn't mean
they shouldn't be safer.

And all that requires is some
very common sense measures,

regulating the length of train cars,

allowing more time
for train inspections,

not letting this woman near trains,
cars, or children,

properly staffing trains
with appropriate-sized crews,

and carefully limiting the amounts
and routes of hazardous materials

being transported.

Now, to ensure that happens,
we need to empower the FRA

to actually monitor trains
and cargo in real time.

And while we're at it, give them the
ability to limit the amount of time

that trains can block intersections.

And finally, and crucially, workers need
a way to confidentially report

safety issues to regulators
without being afraid of retaliation.

Until we fix all of this, we might
really need to fundamentally change

our children's programming to show
the world of trains

as they currently are.

Once upon a time,
on the Island of Sodor,

there was a train named Henry.

Henry was a freight train, and he pulled
all kinds of important materials around.

But then, one day,
Sir Topham Hatt had an idea.

And suddenly, Henry got longer.

And longer. And longer.

Henry got so long, when he rested,
he started getting in people's way.

And drivers got very angry with him.

"I'm late for work.
What's the f*cking hold up, train?"

said the driver.

A little old lady shouted to Henry,
"Get f*cked!"

A little girl crawled underneath Henry
on her way to school.

"Oh, that tickles," said Henry.

"I f*cking hate you, train,"
said the little girl.

A fire engine pleaded
with him to move.

"I can't move," said Henry,
"I don't have any room."

So, they both just sat there and
watched the children's hospital burn.

But Henry was told
he was much more efficient now.

Which is another way of saying
"profitable," and nine miles long.

He carried all sorts of things
people needed,

like medical bandages,
corn, vinyl chloride,

fireworks,
a mysterious red substance,

question mark, question mark,

hand grenades, question mark,

plugged-in space heaters,
and all sorts of zoo animals.

"What's liquified natural gas? And
why am I pulling 22 cars full of it?"

Henry asked. "Never you mind,"
said Sir Topham Hatt.

"I mapped this whole route out
at home."

"That's a weird thing to do, and I don't
really know how to respond to it,"

said Henry.

"Just mind your business like
a good little rolling death machine,"

Sir Topham Hatt said.

"Sorry, I'm a what?" asked Henry.

Then, one day, a wheel on one of
Henry's t*nk cars started overheating.

His engineer hadn't had a chance
to inspect it in months.

Henry was getting worried.

"It seems my caboose is loose.
I can't drive with a loose caboose,"

Henry told the driver.
But it was too late.

"Oh, sh*t," said Henry.

Henry the Freight Engine
became Henry the b*mb Train.

"Ah, well," thought Henry,

"It could be worse.
At least my tankers didn't ex…"

Meanwhile, on the other side
of the island.

"Oh, dear," said Thomas.

The expl*si*n obliterated a significant
part of the Island of Sodor.

Henry was so sad.

Sir Topham Hatt had blood
on his hands, but he didn't care.

It wasn't his blood.

And he could just wipe it off
with all his new money.

As for Henry, he was taken out
of commission and put in a tunnel.

But as trains can't die, he just had
to suffer forever and ever.

But I think he deserved
his punishment, don't you?

That's our show,
thanks so much for watching,

we'll see you next week,
good night!