Actually they are all related. They are all related to Federal regulation of the Rail industry, and the consequent mis-management that this causes.
This is a common misnomer, with regard to r/r disfunction. I have worked in the railroad industry for 23 years, and i would love more than anything else to blame the feds for this....
But...
The true reason is that the cost of replacing and repairing our current infrastructure is so high, that our rail system limps along on a wing and a prayer. This is economics, pure and simple.
Most r/r's are so close to border line broke, that they can't in most cases afford to keep their infrastructures in pristine condition.
The lawsuits from car hitting train accidents all have payoffs to the lawbreakers that are usually always staggeringly in the millions of dollars.
The solution? For the life of me, I can't think of one, that is why the "great" European rail systems are completely socialized, having the governments paying for everything...not a workable solution here in this country.
By the way...I am not a Federal employee!!
Trucking companies always brag on the back of their trucks how much in taxes they pay. The truth is that that amount doesn't even begin to pay for the damage they do to the roads.
Whether intentionally or not, people like to ignore the fact that there are always train mishaps, and have been many train mishaps over the years. Every month there are mishaps. Just after 9/11, when there is slow news, the media and some individuals like to try and make a normal every-day mishap important. They would rather assign blame to terrorists, rather than the lowest bidder or employee competence.
Much like the sharks last summer. They tried to make it out to be some kind of shark invasion around Florida. I've lived in Florida, and along the gulf coast over the years, the sharks have always been there at various times. Just slow news means the media has to make a mountain out of a molehill for ratings and manipulate those people who are looking for secret conspiraces at every turn.