The image of swirling toxic smoke and flames from a spectacular train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023 has faded. But the serious questions it raised remain. Why have safety recommendations to more tightly regulate trains carrying hazardous materials been ignored? Why does training for emergency responders leave out tens of thousands of firefighters working in volunteer departments? Why do the railroads have the power to veto safety improvements? Why are they allowed to inspect their own operations? Why are warning systems designed to save wildlife, including endangered species, not being used on rail lines? And why don’t railroads have to disclose more information to the people living along their tracks about the dangerous cargo they carry?
These and other questions are explored in the coming months as part of the ongoing series, “Off the Rails: Exposing Risk and Regulatory Gaps in North America’s Railroad Industry.’’
Using unprecedented access to data from RailState LLC, which captures images of every car on every train moving through large swaths of the U.S. and most of Canada, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland put together a reporting collaboration of university-based and professional newsrooms to provide information the railroads don’t want to share.
The collaboration is made up of collegiate and professional partners, including the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University, the Global Reporting Centre at the University of British Columbia, NPR, CBC and The Narwhal.
Credits:
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND HOWARD CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Reporters: Cat Murphy, Haley Parsley, Josephine Johnson, Molecule Jongwilai, Cait Kelley, Lizzy Alspach, Daranee Balachandar, Liam Bowman, Taylor Nichols, Mary Burke, Aline Behard Kado, Sade Ajishegirl, Zsana Joyelle Hoskins, Alaysia Ezzard, Aidan Hughes, Menna Ibrahim, Tiasia Saunders, Marijke Friedman, Samantha Decker, Lisa Woelfl, Marwa Barakat.
Data analysis: Taylor Nichols, Paul Kiefer, Lizzy Alspach, Shradha Dinesh, Cat Murphy, Adriana Navarro, Aidan Hughes, Olivia Borgula, Ela Jalil, Ijeoma Opara, Daranee Balachandar, Laura Charleston, Theo Rose, Declan Bradley.
Data Visualizations: Molecule Jongwilai, April Quevedo, Aline Behar Kado, Tiasia Saunders, Natalie Weger.
Video: Drone footage by Josh Davidsburg, videography and editing by Samantha Decker.
Photos: Daranee Balachandar, Alaysia Ezzard, Cat Murphy
Editors: Kathy Best, Sean Mussenden, Deb Nelson, Connie Ford, Adam Marton.
Social Editor: Stacey Decker.
Copy Editors: Josh Land, Kaitlyn Wilson.
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY HOWARD CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Reporters: Lex Doig, Jaehee Kim, Adrian Mancera
Researchers: Matthew Bird, Mackenzie Miller, Justin Patton
Editors: Mark Greenblatt, Lauren Mucciolo
GLOBAL REPORTING CENTRE, University of British Columbia
Research: Sharon Nadeem, Calyn Shaw, Huma Javeed
Editors: Andie Crossan, Britney Dennison
Data analysis: Andrew Munroe
THE NARWHAL
Reporter: Ainslie Cruickshank
Photojournalists: Leah Hennel, Jimmy Jeong
Editors: Lindsay Sample, Denise Balkissoon
Data visualizations: Andrew Munroe
Video: L. Manuel Baechlin
Art direction: Shawn Parkinson
EVIDENT MEDIA
Editor/Animator: Jennifer Smart
Directors of Photography: Zach Cusson, Davis Rorher
Executive Director: Zach Toombs
Creative Director: Kevin Clancy