Railroad must pay

It's concerning, but it should not come as a surprise that Norfolk Southern has been slow .... extremely slow ... at agreeing 100% to pay for the damages caused by a train derailment on Oct. 8 at the rail bridge over Columbus Avenue in Sandusky. The underpass, or subway as it's called, has been impassible ever since. A train derailment occurred at the Columbus Avenue underpass on Oct. 8, 2022. The roadway portion remains closed. Register file photo/BILL THEISEN Twenty cars of a 101-car train derailed, toppling from about 15 feet overhead down onto the roadway. It's just pure luck nobody was injured or killed. It took just two days for the rail company to get up and running again, and that solved Norfolk Southern's transportation problems. But regular folks, commuters and school buses and people just out for a drive, are still detouring off Columbus Avenue. The delays waiting for Norfolk Southern are frustrating motorists and city officials alike. No longer willing to just wait, on Monday, city commissioners voted to move forward with getting a construction estimate and finding a contractor to repair the underpass. The railroad company hasn't even estimated the damage or the repair cost, and it hasn't agreed to pay for both the repairs and cleanup. The bill could come with sticker shock: The damages caused by the derailment should be extensive. For starters, as explained in Monday's legislation paperwork, the paraffin wax released from damaged train cars leaked into Sandusky's sewer system. Additionally, and maybe more concerning, "Train cars damaged the sewer lift station walls, the pavement on Columbus Avenue, electrical for lights, traffic control and safety devices, the sidewalk, sewer infrastructure, the decorative pedestrian safety railing, the retaining walls on the east and west sides of the underpass, the parapet (concrete) walls and handrail on the railroad bridge and other infrastructure," according to the statement. Then the railroad's contractors and cleanup crews further compromised this area. Local officials pointed to the area's vertical walls, pedestrian railing, lift station, curbs and gutters, drive aprons, landscaping and adjacent roadways. In other words, our subway seems to have been totaled. Few companies operate like railroads. They have a historical place in the archives of robber baron-dom that breeds arrogance to this day. We hope executives at Norfolk Southern remember it was their train cars that derailed that damaged public property. If it was you in your car who drove off the bridge and damaged public property, you or your insurance company would be getting the bill. So send the bill, we say, and start a court case if that's what it takes to get their attention. We sure don't want to see Sandusky's taxpayers get stuck with Norfolk Southern's bill.