Broken track caused train derailment above Station Square, railroad says
Although the federal investigation isn’t done yet, Norfolk Southern Railway says the August freight train derailment above Station Square was caused by a broken track.
The Federal Railroad Administration released the railroad’s report Wednesday on the Aug. 5 incident that closed the railroad tracks for four days and disrupted the Port Authority’s light-rail operations below them for nearly three weeks. Seven of the train’s 57 cars derailed at 1:10 p.m., dumping all of their contents and several cars onto Port Authority tracks.
The railroad’s report called the cause of the derailment a “detail fracture from shelling or head check.” A detail fracture is a progressive break beginning at or near the surface of the rail, while shelling is a horizontal separation and head checking is a slight separation of metal, according to the FRA’s Track Inspector Rail Defect Reference Manual.
Rudy Husband, the railroad’s vice president for government relations in Pennsylvania, said Wednesday the railroad has a “rigorous” inspection program that reviews the condition of tracks twice a week. He didn’t know exactly when the last inspection had occurred before the derailment.
“The cause of the derailment was a broken track,” Mr. Husband said. “It’s something that occasionally happens. We have no idea when the break occurred or how long it was broken before the derailment.”
The derailment occurred in the middle of the train. Mr. Husband said it’s unknown whether the front of the train passed over broken track or the break occurred as the train was passing.
The railroad’s report said the accident caused $80,000 in damage to its track and $773,275 in equipment damage. That doesn’t include damage to Port Authority facilities, which occurred from cars and their contents falling onto tracks and electrical lines as well as from the use of a 450-ton crane to remove debris.
As a result of the derailment, Port Authority had to replace about 1,600 feet of track; install 4,000 feet of overhead electrical lines and a new support structure to hold them; re-establish fiber-optic service for safety signals; rebuild a retaining wall; clear drains; and install a new sidewalk along a bus lane behind the station.
The agency reopened its Allentown line temporarily to reroute light-rail vehicles around Station Square while crews made repairs.
Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said the agency expects to finish compiling its costs from the derailment and submit them to the railroad for reimbursement by the end of the year.