Yesterday's massive derailment and explosion in Oneida, just east of the 29th, has again focused attention on rail safety in Western New York. Earlier this year, Randy Kuhl announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would send a special track inspection vehicle to the area. That announcement was prompted by another spectacular derailment East Rochester in January.
Today's Democrat and Chronicle carries an editorial calling for more scrutiny of the rail system. Noting Chuck Shumer's call for a $50 million appropriation to update railroad infrastructure, it makes the important point that we first need to understand the problem, as well as the railroad's plan for fixing it, before throwing money around. Kuhl hasn't called for more appropriations, and the use of a track inspection machine probably falls in the category of oversight, which is what Congress is supposed to do. It will be interesting to see if Kuhl echos Shumer's call for money, or if he waits for the results of the inspection.
Of course, the most pertinent question is why the FRA wasn't on top of this problem before the derailments occurred.
Comments
Actually, the Bush Administration has been into defunding all things railroad for a while, now. His 2005 SOTU speech, for example, talked about gutting "unprofitable" programs. Quite a few of those cuts ended up affecting rail subsidies.
It's one more way that the Bush Administration has quietly cut costs to rationalize outrageous spending on the war to Conservatives. This way, it looks like he's a fiscal Conservative and a patriot.
You know what else he cut to fund his war? Grants and manpower to fix the levees in NOLA. We may never get the same cataclysm in NY29 (we pray), but the causality is the same.
Mine safety is another good example. Sometimes, government is a good thing...