U.S. takes deep look at railroad
Norfolk Southern investigation set
OMAHA, Neb. — Federal investigators are opening a wide-ranging investigation into one of the nation’s biggest railroads after a fiery derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last month and several other accidents involving Norfolk Southern, including the death of a train’s conductor Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday it will begin a broad look at the company’s safety culture — the first such investigation within the rail industry since 2014. The NTSB said it has sent investigation teams to look into five significant accidents involving Norfolk Southern since December 2021.
The agency also urged the company to take immediate action to review and assess its safety practices.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw pledged to hold a series of companywide safety meetings today — one day ahead of when he is scheduled to testify in Congress at a hearing on the East Palestine derailment.
“We are going to invest more in safety. … It is not acceptable, and it will not continue,” he said in a statement.
In response to the Ohio derailment, the railroad announced plans Monday to improve the use of detectors placed along railroad tracks to spot overheating bearings and other problems.
Federal Railroad Administration statistics show accidents involving Norfolk Southern are down since 2019, but the rate of accidents is up over the past decade. The 119 derailments involving Norfolk Southern last year was the lowest number in the last decade.
Industrywide, there were more than 1,000 derailments last year. But pressure has been mounting on the rail company in the aftermath of the East Palestine disaster.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the department will hold the railroad accountable for any safety violations that contributed to the Feb. 3 crash.
The latest train collision came Tuesday when a train and a dump truck collided at a steel plant in Cleveland, killing the train’s conductor as he stood on the outside of a car, according to authorities. The company said the cause of that accident was not yet known.
Eddie Hall, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union that represents the worker who was killed, said “all railroad accidents are avoidable.”