By Regina M. Rodgers

For over 100 decades, the United States has paved the way for transportation by using trains to shape different ways of transportation over the world such as buses, cars, subways, airplanes, etc. The U.S. has used trains to get supplies across the nation from point A to point B over the years as efficient machines to use for both people and supplies. Nevertheless, over the years humans started to stop using trains as transportation and instead using buses, cars, and subways since they are a little more modern and easy to find and reuse in bigger cities such as Chicago, Atlanta,  and Washington. Trains are now mostly used for the transportation of supplies to different states over a set period of time without accidents and derailments over the decades. However, over the years there have been many accidents and derailments not only in the United States but around the world. Yet, the train derailments never got as far as Ohio, where the train somehow went off the tracks on its own without any disturbance. In Ohio, it happens in East Palestine and Ravenna township. So, are trains not being as they used to be? If so, is the government going to allow trains to be replaced by modern technology? To answer these questions, we need to go more into depth into the history of trains and what happened to them over time.   

For starters, What is transportation? Well, transportation is the movement of goods and people from one place to another. People throughout history always needed to find some type of transportation to move them and their goods around from place to place as the world became more physically and technologically advanced. An example of this can be seen in ancient times when people crafted boats out of wood and rode domesticated animals and would later make a wheeled vehicle with domesticated animals to pull the vehicle to take them and their goods from place to place. Then, over time people will learn how to harness and control various forms of power such as wind, stream, and combustion. As a result, these forms of power were used to build and create our modern-day transportation vehicles. These vehicles include cars, trains, airplanes, subways, and ships. These new ways of transportation shaped the environment of how humanity has lived from dirt roads to concrete roads and from wooden huts to skyscrapers and brick houses. Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, and Romans built roads and highways out of stones to connect the rural areas to the cities. Humans have copied off similar makings of buildings and added them to our new modernly developed world. In the early 1800s the development of the steam locomotive or train people began building railways to be able to take an opportunity to use train travel in the U.S. and Great Britain. Factory workers had constructed about 11,000 kilometers of railway in England and Wales. While in the United States, there were more than 320,000 kilometers of railway by the year 1900. The U.S. would use trains to transport people and goods across the U.S. or to transport goods to a trading ship port on the east coast of the U.S. So, how does this apply to the efficiency of train transportation over time? Admirably, people would stop using trains to take them to their destinations because cars, subways, and planes would later be invented to let people travel on their own time and much faster. This would put trains in a position where they will only be used to transport goods and services, but from time to time trains will take people to their specific destination. We can say that since trains are not getting the needed amount of money to make sure that some trains are capable of transporting goods and services as they used to. The real reason is that railways for trains to move on is rusty and sometimes cracked from the inside since the United States' states have to use tax dollars to fix the railways in their state but some states do while other don’t because of the amount taxes dollars they spend on rebuilding or adding more buildings and fix roads in cities which can be a total of over a million dollars. As a result of not having time to fix all railways in the state, the state will have problems similar to Ohio’s. Like the derailment in Ravenna townships and East Palestine because of the train going off of the track into their county’s area and polluting the water and air quality for the residents that live there. 

In addition to this, is the government going to replace trains with new technological advancements? Yes and no, I say this because first the government is not sure of what is to come next in the future of trains and technology but, a group of scientists has created a train and subway hybrid that is small but doesn’t touch the ground because it has a handle part that is attached to the top of a line that will move the vehicle accordingly, this makes the vehicle “levate” in the way. This hybrid can carry up to 5-10 people at a time but it is still in the process of being made since it has a lot of minor things to fix for it to be safe for human transportation for the U.S. government to allow. The scientists also stated that we might not see this model till 2036 or 2040. This model could potentially replace trains in the future. This is because the scientists say that the hybrid will be going through a man-made tunnel above ground, unlike a subway. This tunnel will stretch across the U.S. Yet, though it sounds exciting, the hybrid cannot transport goods and services like a train since its closer purpose is like a subway, only to transport people. So, there is a chance that we might see trains in the future but still use them as transportation for goods and services.  

Sources:
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/transportation-infrastructure/   

https://fox8.com/business/ap-business/ohio-sues-norfolk-southern-over-toxic-train-derailment/   

https://fox8.com/news/ntsb-investigates-site-of-ravenna-township-train-derailment/ 

By Regina M. Rodgers

Introduction 

At 9:30 a.m. on February 3, 2023, 53 cars on Norfolk Southern's train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, not too far away from the Pennsylvania border. Many residents had to evacuate from their homes as skies began to blacken and chemical contamination in East Palestine's water, air, and soil after Norfolk Southern’s trail derailment. Residents of East Palestine took their belongings and families to seek shelter elsewhere for the time being whether it be at a hotel, motel, or at a family residence nearby. Many residents of East Palestine left deep family connections, friendships, homes, and jobs behind for their own safety. 

Residents of East Palestine are left in uncertainty 

About 5,000 residents excavated days after the derailment, when officials decided to burn toxic vinyl chloride from five of the cars from the train to prevent a catastrophic explosion. Vinyl chloride is a common ingredient used to make polyvinyl chloride pipes, wire coatings, vehicle upholstery, and plastic kitchenware. Vinyl chloride can be cancerous to humans if inhaled. 

Since then most residents have returned back to their homes in East Palestine. However, they complain about illnesses and are in constant worry about the air, water, and soil quality because of more toxic chemicals that were released from the train as it is constantly being burned by officials. While some residents are not returning to East Palestine until they are sure it's safe. For other residents, it could not be the same, since they are not allowed back to their homes because of the ongoing cleanup of debris from the train in some areas of East Palestine.  

Right now, residents of East Palestine are unsure of how or whether to move on from the accident with residents living in constant worry and uncertain if a situation like this one will ever happen again in their community. The train derailment in East Palestine sparked a national debate in the U.S. over train and rail safety and whether the U.S. should put a little more money into advancing more trains in the U.S. to more electrical trains like some European countries have already done.    

Norfolk Southern’s compensation and message to Residents of East Palestine & Conclusion 

In the midst of all of this, you are probably wondering what is Norfolk Southern doing for the residents of East Palestine who were affected by the train derailment. Well, Norfolk Southern is paying for lodging for some of the families of East Palestine however the number of families Norfolk Southern is paying lodging for is currently unknown to the public. In addition to this, Norfolk Southern handed out $1,000 of inconvenience checks to residents within the zip code that includes East Palestine and some surrounding areas of East Palestine who may have also been affected by the train derailment. According to pbs.org interview, Norfolk Southern President and CEO, Alan Shaw, told an Ohio rail safety committee, “I pledge that we won’t be finished until we make it right.” Alan Shaw’s statement made residents and the public know that he and Norfolk Southern will keep helping to clean up the debris from the train derailment and make it up to the residents that live there. Currently, no residents from East Palestine have given any statement to the public concerning Norfolk Southern. 

In conclusion, residents of East Palestine are uncertain of the future of their community in East Palestine, but with the help of Norfolk Southern. We can ensure that all residents will be able to go back to their daily lives in East Palestine. However, do you think that because of the train derailment in East Palestine will impact the decision to increase the concerns about train and rail safety?  

Sources:  

https://www.dep.pa.gov/About/Regional/SouthwestRegion/Community%20Information/Pages/Ohio-Train-Derailment.aspx 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/east-palestine-residents-live-in-limbo-months-after-fiery-train-derailment