For years, US rail magnates have expanded their profits by lengthening train routes, cutting staff, and implementing brutal and hazardous speedups. Together, these measures constitute a policy known as precision scheduled railroading (PSR).

After months of bitter negotiations, US congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — have found common ground in taking away 115,00 railworkers’ right to strike. This was an effort to preempt railworkers’ striking for paid sick days and changes to scheduling. Unlike 80 percent of US workers, these railworkers are forced to prebook vacation time if they need to see a doctor or recuperate from illness.

That policy, PSR, is an industry standard. Nominally aiming to “minimize the ratio between railroads’ operating costs and their revenues,” in practice, PSR means penalizing workers for lost time, extending the length of trains, and running them at a breakneck schedule. According to New York Magazine, the Class I rail firms that dominate 83 percent of US rail have used this policy to cut 30 percent of their employees since 2006. Since the introduction of PSR, health experts and congressional committees have warned that it strains workers and increases the risk of derailments.