The State of the Railroads in Washington and the Need for Public Rail

It is no secret that our system of privatized rail is a major burden on the American People. Costly inefficiencies, horrific derailments and accidents that cost lives, even the inaccessibility of passenger rail all contribute to our critical, yet preventable issues. These issues are the underlying conditions that led to various crises in American rail, including the infamous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in February 2022. Washington state is no exception.

Earlier this year in June, the BNSF Railway Company had been ordered to pay the Swinomish Indigenous Tribe $394M for trespassing trains carrying crude oil across the Swinomish Reservation several times from 2012 through 2021. Court documents state that up to 250,000 tanker cars carrying crude oil crossed through Swinomish tribal land throughout this time period. The dangers of these trains can be seen in the March 2023 derailment on Swinomish territory of a BNSF train which spilled 3,100 gallons of diesel fuel in Anacortes, WA.

A BNSF train also carrying crude oil derailed near Custer, WA in December 2020. Despite no casualties, cars leaked and caught fire, causing an environmental hazard with between 5,400 to 8,000 gallons left abandoned.

“We’re concerned about not only our safety and the safety of our brothers and sisters that we’re working with, but the public and the communities that we’re moving our trains through”, said Herb Krohn, a train conductor and the Washington State Legislative Director for SMART-TD. Train derailments in the state of Washington had more than doubled over a ten year period ending in 2023.

As long as the US rail system is under the mercy of for-profit, private interests, cutting costs at the expense of public and environmental health will undoubtedly continue to occur. It has become obvious that only a democratically-run, publicly-owned railroad can reduce these catastrophes. That is why groups such as Railroad Workers United are leading the charge for the nationalization of the railroads through the Público Ferroviario Ahora campaign.