Smoke fills the sky after an empty CSX coal train hit a rockslide along tracks causing a fiery derailment, March 8, 2023, in a remote area just south of Sandstone, W.Va. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has reiterated his concerns about railroad safety and scolded the industry for not doing more to improve since last year’s fiery Ohio derailment. (Jenny Harnish/The Register-Herald via AP, file)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has reiterated his concerns about railroad safety and scolded the industry for not doing more to improve since last year’s fiery Ohio derailment. In a new letter to the freight railroads’ main trade group, Buttigieg acknowledged that the railroads say they are committed to safety. He also gave them credit for providing sick time to nearly 90% of their workers, and for investing in an extensive network of detectors to help prevent derailments. But he said that too often regulators encounter resistance when they try to get the industry to do more to improve safety, and the latest statistics show the industry’s track record hasn’t improved significantly despite the railroads’ efforts.