SMART-TD's Jared Cassity on the Rail Safety Act Breakthrough and Lessons from East Palestine

Three years after the East Palestine derailment, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has adopted the Rail Safety Act as an amendment to the Build America 250 Act — mandating two-person freight train crews, new hazmat transparency requirements and improved defect detector standards. It is the biggest rail safety step in more than two decades. On this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, SMART Transportation Division National Safety and Legislative Director Jared Cassity explains exactly how East Palestine happened, why silenced wayside defect detectors were a deliberate railroad policy choice rather than a malfunction and what the legislation does — and does not — address. He also explains why September 30 is the hard deadline and what it means if Congress misses it. More information on SMART Transportation Division's legislative work is available at smart-union.org.