ELLISTON, Va. — The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the derailment of a Norfolk Southern coal train Thursday night near Elliston, the Associated Press reports.
The NTSB confirmed its investigation plans in a Twitter post this evening (July 7).
Nineteen cars derailed but stayed upright in the incident, which came after the train crew was alerted to an overheated wheel bearing by a wayside detector and stopped the train. After a visual inspection and upon receiving clearance from railroad headquarters in Atlanta, the crew attempted to move the train 8 miles to a siding where the car could be set out, but it derailed en route. No injuries were reported.
Elliston is about 20 miles west of Roanoke on NS’ Christiansburg District.
A member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer and Trainmen says the incident raises questions about NS safety. Randy Fannon, part of the BLET”s safety task force, said the crew had been told it could move the train at track speed, but was uncomfortable doing so and was traveling at 20 mph at the time of the derailment. “We’re just lucky right now that it’s coal,” Fannon told the AP. “If it had been ethanol or LP gas or chlorine or anything like that, it could have been a totally different situation.”
Norfolk Southern spokesman Tom Crosson told the AP the derailment “should never have happened. It is unacceptable. We are working to achieve our goal of being the gold standard for safety in the railroad industry, and this incident strengthens our resolve.”
The NTSB and Federal Railroad Administration have previously announced investigations of overall NS safety practices in the wake of the Feb. 3 East Palestine derailment and other incidents earlier this year.
Actually happened on the Whitethorn districit.
Questions are on the rise again about the veteran Norfolk Southern Railway’s safety procedures! What or who is responsible this time?
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
RR unions said it wasn’t safe to run without cabooses, firemen, extra brakemen, and maybe other redundancies I’ve forgotten too and the industry has become safer and safer. Trains have become longer and longer for as long as there have been railroads too, made possible by bigger and better locomotives, track, equipment, training, etc. and the companies have shared the savings with employees too making them among the highest paid in the USA.
Most of the factors here seem pretty straightforward so hopefully it won!’t take the NTSB it’s customary year to complete Its investigation or maybe fold it into its ongoing NS proceedings. On its face telling the crew to proceed at track speed seems unwise but we don’t know what the crew told the HBD desk person about the defect or what the detector or preceding detectors might have indicated.,Regardless, congrats to the crew for questioning it and taking what they thought was the safe – but in retrospect not safe enough, course.
I agree every accident is preventable and one of my all times favorite bosses was fond of saying every one could be labeled “human” , the question being by whom or what and at what cost. Most are the result of multiple factors including as I got him to agree in at least one occasion, “lady luck”.
The NTSB’s primary investigative focus here is the corporate culture and decisionmaking from afar. Its not about 19 cars that derailed at 19 mph.
“said the crew had been told it could move the train at track speed”
It sounds to me like a not uncommon case of a manager chosen because of a university degree, but with limited experience of what he or she is supposed to be managing. But the management mandate was not to delay traffic, and the experience of train crews could be ignored because they were “not educated”.
19 cars derailed at 19 MPH. Now if the train had been going 40? Applying KE = MV squared would that have meant ~ 76 cars might have derailed? Of course might not have that many cars behind bad bearing. Your educated manager should have remembered his physics. Maybe order came from higher ups? Probably should run any bad bearing at 10 MPH?
Norfolk Southern, like all the major freight railroads, has streamlined its operations over the past several years to reduce costs by relying more on running fewer, longer trains so it doesn’t need as many crews or locomotives. Many rail unions have said the changes make railroads riskier, spreading employees thin and making it difficult to take the time to properly inspect cars or complete needed preventative maintenance.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Both the FRA and the NTSB officials said they were investigating Norfolk Southern’s safety practices following the East Palestine derailment and several others in the past couple years.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Just another unacceptable derailment incident that should never have happened!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
“It should never have happened. It is unacceptable.” Now, tell that to Headquarters.