In Lower Saucon Township, Pa., residents are awaiting the results of an investigation into yet another Norfolk Southern train derailment March 2.

This one involved three trains and scattered rail cars along a riverbank. At least one was partially in the Lehigh River.

So far, the National Transportation Safety Board seems confident no hazardous materials were involved when an eastbound Norfolk Southern train struck a stopped Norfolk Southern train, sending wreckage onto an adjacent track that was hit by a westbound Norfolk Southern train. There was a small diesel fuel spill and plastic pellets spilled.

Norfolk Southern said it “quickly responded” to the derailment.

But what if any one of the three trains had been carrying something else? It seems a stroke of luck that they were not.

By October there had been 742 train derailments in the U.S. last year, according to Federal Railroad Administration data. In fact, for the past decade there have been an average 1,300 trains derailed each year.

Yet Congress still sits on its hands rather than pass the Railway Safety Act. Worse, a report by The Intercept, published last month, suggests some members of the U.S. Senate have not even looked at the bill.

That is shameful.

“We take this incident seriously and work hard to avoid all accidents,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement, vowing to work closely with federal authorities “to understand how it happened and prevent others like it.”

It seems as though what Norfolk Southern is working hard to avoid is any measure that might make its trains, its employees and the residents of towns through which those trains pass safer. It is fair to ask if cleaning up these messes is a more appealing cost of doing business for them than improving safety.

Congress and railroad executives may have been able to breathe a sigh of relief after this accident, but one day there will be another catastrophe. Action is needed now.