SMYRNA, Ga. — U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is urging action from rail company CSX after two trains derailed in Georgia in less than two months.
Ossoff announced the launch of an inquiry into CSX Transportation, requesting answers from company CEO Joseph Hinrichs after train cars went off track in March and May.
The two derailments mentioned by Ossoff for his safety inquiry happened on March 25, when six CSX train cars derailed in Fayette County, and on May 9 in Smyrna, when 17 train cars derailed in a residential area.
The March 25 derailment in Fayette County was preceded by a warning to the rail company by law enforcement hours before “that they had found broken tracks at the intersection where the derailment later occurred.”
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In Smyrna, Channel 2 Action News was at the scene, where the train cars derailed just feet from homes and businesses nearby.
“I write to express serious concern about two recent derailments of CSX train cars in Georgia, and to request specific solutions from CSX as soon as possible on plans to prevent such derailments in the future,” Ossoff said in his letter to Hinrichs. “More must be done to protect my constituents.”
The senator wants CSX to provide information on new solutions to prevent future derailments and is pushing for answers on what they’re doing to make that happen.
Ossoff said the derailments and “significant operation failures could have seriously injured or killed my constituents,” saying the company has to do more to prevent serious incidents in the future.
In his letter to Hinrichs, Ossoff requested answers within two weeks related to the nature of the failures, prevention and if hazardous materials are ever on the routes where the derailments happened, among others.
Channel 2 Action News received the following statement from CSX, confirming they’d received the letter and planned to respond:
“We received the letter from Senator Ossoff regarding recent CSX incidents in Georgia. We are currently reviewing it and will respond in a timely manner.
At CSX, safety is our highest priority. It’s a commitment we make to our employees, our customers, and the communities through which we operate. Our goal is zero accidents. We take every accident on our railroad seriously and we work hard to learn from each one through careful analysis and fact-based process improvement.
As the safest way to move freight over land, we are committed to reducing incidents on our network and every decision we make is intended to transport all freight as safely and efficiently as possible."
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