Chris Deluzio’s Railway Safety Act gets a big boost from Trump and is finally out of committee

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Walking along the railroad tracks near East Clark Street in this Columbiana County village, it is hard to imagine the destruction that happened here three years ago. 

For people who didn’t call this village home, the long, short whistle sounds of an oncoming train in the distance might sound nostalgic. It’s that way in many cities and towns across the country where the roads cross the tracks.

The main rail line here runs parallel to East Taggert Street, one of the primary routes through the center of the village, and intersects with North Pleasant Drive and South Market Street.

In February of 2023, that nostalgia turned into terror when a loud and fiery derailment turned life here upside down. A Norfolk Southern train came roaring through the town of Salem, more than 20 miles away. Undetected until much later, a video showed the wheels of the 23rd car