Inspection warnings a theme of derailment probe
NTSB wraps up safety hearings
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Federal regulators sent a letter to Norfolk Southern and other major railroads in September to warn against skirting train inspection rules through using a system known as “ghost tracks,” according to testimony Friday on the final day of safety hearings into February’s derailment in East Palestine.
Jason Cox, a representative for the Brotherhood of Railroad Carmen, testified that rather than having inspections carried out by the specialists his union represents, Norfolk Southern now relies more heavily on train crews to do them. He said the result was that the first car to derail in East Palestine had not undergone a thorough inspection from the point it was turned over to Norfolk Southern in Madison, Ill.
“There are qualified mechanical inspectors at all these points, and they were not allowed to inspect this car at any of those locations,” Cox said.
Had they inspected it, Cox said, the faulty bearing that caused the train to come off the tracks might have been caught sooner. He held up a gauge that an inspector would have used.
The letter and Cox’s testimony were part of a running theme Friday at the hearing, held by the National Transportation Safety Board in the East Palestine High School gym. Union leaders said they repeatedly warned that Norfolk Southern, along with other railroads, was stretching resources increasingly thin in the name of efficiency, putting safety at risk.
The board released thousands of pages of records Thursday and is gathering testimony from witnesses to build its understanding of how the derailment happened and how emergency crews responded in the aftermath.
In a letter included among the records, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose wrote to Norfolk Southern to say officials were concerned about changes in how railroads were carrying out inspections. Bose said the agency had evidence that railroads were not properly checking trains into terminals — being kept instead on “ghost tracks” — meaning they could avoid being inspected by dedicated carmen and would instead be checked by other workers.
“The repeated performance of inspections, by employees or contractors who do not possess the same specialized training and experience as maintenance-of-equipment employees, raises concerns about the adequacy of the inspections and the potential impact on the safety of the equipment across the national rail network,” Bose wrote.
Cox said Friday that railroad employees asked managers about the letter and were told it wasn’t a directive and didn’t compel Norfolk Southern to take action. Jared Hopewell, a Norfolk Southern executive who testified Friday, said he didn’t know how the railroad had responded to the letter.
But Mike Rush, a top safety official at the Association of American Railroads, questioned whether an inspector would have noticed anything was wrong with the bearing.
“The bearings are sealed components,” he said. “I’m not saying a carman can never detect an issue with a bearing, but that’s not typically going to be the case.”
The derailment has focused attention on safety practices in the railroad industry. In addition to launching an in-depth investigation of the East Palestine derailment, the NTSB is also reviewing Norfolk Southern’s safety culture — an additional layer of scrutiny begun after the death of a conductor in Cleveland.
Industry leaders argue that safety remains a priority. Rush said federal data show that major railroads had their secondbest accident rate ever in 2022.
“The railroad industry’s recent safety record is excellent,” he said. “This record was built through years of work and investment in employee training, infrastructure, and technologies such as wayside detectors. The railroads have driven risk down across every facet of railroad operation.”
The train in East Palestine came off the tracks after a bearing on one of its 149 cars overheated and failed. Much of Friday’s testimony focused on efforts by Norfolk Southern to detect overheating bearings before they lead to a derailment.