Greece and Ohio - A Tale of Two Fatal Train Fiascos
Two years on, Greece's workers demand accountability for a deadly rail crash widely viewed as a state and corporate failure, while Americans seem to have largely forgotten about East Palestine, Ohio.
At the end of February, workers belonging to Greece’s two major labor unions led the country’s largest ever general strike and protest. Two years after a freight and passenger train collided on a route between Athens and Thessaloniki, the people of Greece had grown tired of the government slow rolling its investigation and demanded accountability. 57 people died in the mysterious accident, and yet each step of the way, the government had been selective with facts and reluctant to hold responsible parties accountable. They initially had neglected to acknowledge that delays in crucial infrastructure upgrades were largely relevant in creating the conditions for the crash, initially citing human error on the part of the station master instead. Flammable material present at the site of the crash likely exacerbated the size and ferocity of the resulting fireball, and the government has internally acknowledged this (as made evident via leaks), even though their official public position has generally refuted the matter.
Dissatisfied with meager concessions, like mild infrastructure upgrades that have since been wiped away by cyclones, the people of Greece took matters into their own hands. On February 28, the two year anniversary of the crash, people took up a general strike lasting 24 hours. Droves of public and private sector workers in the hundreds of thousands swarmed the streets of Athens and surrounded parliament. The entire economy was ground to a halt, with commercial flights grounded and ferries and trains impeded. People turned out, demanding accountability for an accident which has so far appeared not to be a tragic mishap, but a series of deliberate failures, misdirections, and cover-ups.
Coincidentally enough, we recently crossed the two year anniversary of our own train catastrophe here in the United States, a milestone met with indifference and cynicism rather than the sort of popular mobilization that took place in Greece. When it comes to negligence, corruption, and a lack of accountability, the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio bears many similarities to its Greek counterpart. As you may recall, back on February 3, 2023, a freight train containing hazardous materials operated by the firm Norfolk Southern derailed, exploded, and was allowed to burn for two days straight, leading to a plume of cancer causing chemicals being released into the air and water. People in places as far away as Maine reported seeing black rain after the incident, and the Ohio River, a source of drinking water for 5 million people, was contaminated.
Norfolk Southern and others lobbied ardently to the tune of millions to ease freight train regulations as far back as during the Obama administration. As a result of their corporate advocacy, the government eased restrictions on which chemicals qualify as highly flammable, electronic brake upgrades that would massively improve the stopping power of trains were not enforced, and freight companies like Norfolk Southern pushed the limits on how long trains could be (this particular train in Ohio was over 1.7 miles long, yet only had a two person crew supervising). In this particular crash, Norfolk Southern stuck to their negligent practices by executing a days-long controlled burn, dubiously citing concerns about risk of explosion. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later found that Norfolk Southern had withheld information, including expert scientific testimony that advised them not to burn vinyl chloride, and that the tank cars were rapidly cooling down and stabilizing well before they decided to carry out their manual burn. In other words, their rationale for executing the controlled burn was likely bogus, and their actual motivation was more plausibly rooted in expediting the cleanup process so that they could get back to profit seeking and moving freight on the line. Their criminal burn stunt likely contributed significantly to the widespread contamination and health ramifications felt nearby, including rampant illness and malaise in the area, an uptick in cancer diagnoses over the following months and years, and soil and water contamination.
Norfolk Southern did not act alone in their cover up, but via the unholy corporate-governmental alliance they had been forging through their years of lobbying, even implicating agencies that are supposed to be tasked with protecting the public from delinquent companies as this. For sixteen whole months, the EPA denied detecting vinyl chloride, the primary carcinogenic compound that was allowed to burn in the crash, until they were eventually compelled to admit to its detection in nearby areas when independent journalists aired out tips purporting that the agency knew of its spread. When residents and workers brought lawsuits against the company, the company sought the assistance of the Supreme Court in securing immunity, and this position was supported by the Biden administration. Initially, in exchange for being poisoned, displaced, and traumatized, all that Norfolk Southern, a $50 billion company, offered residents was $6.5 million in aid, which was stipulated upon residents not seeking legal recourse against the company. Governor Mike DeWine, who received over $165,000 in financial contributions from Norfolk Southern, neglected to declare an emergency, which limited the scope and pace of federal aid. Vice President JD Vance (an Ohio senator at the time), whose former communications director is married to a Norfolk Southern lobbyist, initially feigned concern before going dark on residents as inconvenient facts about Norfolk Southern’s criminal negligence began to come to light.
On February 3, 2025, the two year anniversary of the derailment, we didn’t get mass mobilizations or general strikes as we saw in Greece. We instead received Kabuki theatrics from JD Vance, who appeared in East Palestine to bloviate about railway safety and President Trump’s interest in the matter, the very same Trump who deregulated the use of electronic brakes on freight vehicles carrying flammable materials. As articulated by the residents of East Palestine, it’s hard not to see Vance’s words as more than empty promises. Until and unless Americans take a page out of Greece’s playbook, the courts may provide the only means of recourse for the people sacrificed on the altar of Norfolk Southern’s corporate greed.