CLEVELAND — Continuing attacks on current management at Norfolk Southern, board nominees of investor Ancora Holdings have issued a “white paper” on last Saturday’s three-train NS collision in Pennsylvania in which they outline what they say would be safety upgrades at the railroad and question the current operating culture.
The investment group launched a proxy fight to oust current NS CEO Alan Shaw in February, proposing to replace him with former UPS executive Jim Barber Jr. [see “Activist investor seeks to install former UPS president …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 20, 2024]
The March 2 incident in Lower Saucon Township, Pa., saw a stopped eastbound freight rear-ended by an intermodal train at low speed; derailed cars from that collision were then hit by a westbound freight train. A total of two locomotives and nine freight cars derailed; there were no injuries, but the locomotives, some diesel fuel, and plastic pellets entered the Lehigh River.
The document, available here, says the eight board nominees are committed to two-person crews on mainline trains, which an accompanying press release presents as “a significant upgrade” to current NS policies.
“We believe a two-person crew is one of the very best ways to enhance operational safety and empower operators to identify, assess and resolve problems. Under our leadership, we intend to ensure that Norfolk Southern’s mainline trains always have a two-person crew,” Barber, the other seven board nominees, and proposed Chief Operating Officer Jamie Boychuk say in an accompanying statement. “… While we appreciate the technological advances that continue to enhance safety and operational performance, safe railroading still relies primarily on human oversight and ingenuity. Crews routinely respond to unusual and unanticipated circumstances that require rapid decisions based on human judgment of many variables. Workers will remain, for the foreseeable future, the bedrock of safe railroad operations.”
Two-person crews remain the industry standard, and in this accident, all three trains had at least two crew members; one had a third, a conductor trainee.
The white paper also says the board nominees support moves to reduce congestion, through methods including “having fewer assets in transit, using existing assets more efficiently, and reducing equipment failures.” It also claims that the Saturday incident “suggests that … operators were prioritizing the movement of trains over safety.”
The white paper addresses several aspects of the three-train collision, and raises questions how the rear-end collision could occur given the presence of positive train control. While noting a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board is still weeks away, it says its analysis is based on information reported to date, the group’s collective railroading experience, discussions with third parties and employees, and photos of the accident scene. Still, it also appears to illustrate the risk in issuing such documents while facts are still being gathered.
Among other points, the white paper asks, “Why did Norfolk Southern clear the westbound train to proceed past the two trains that had already collided on the adjoining eastbound tracks, and that had already resulted in wrecked cars on the westbound track? As a result, a second accident involving a third train occurred. We believe this second collision raises important concerns with Norfolk Southern’s controls.”
But Wednesday night, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator told city officials in Lower Saucon Township that the westbound train arrived less than a minute after the collision of the two eastbound trains [see “Three-train NS incident unfolded …,” News Wire, March 7, 2024]. This indicates it would have been almost impossible to notify the westbound train in time to avoid the second impact.
Norfolk Southern, in its latest statement on the derailment, said railroad crews and contractors “remain at the derailment site. Site cleanup and track work resumed Sunday afternoon after the NTSB released the site back to us. We will continue to fully support the NTSB’s investigation. Norfolk Southern will learn from this incident as we constantly strive to improve safety.”
Actually, this derail and others show exactly *why* Ancora should not cut out the guts of NS. You have a CEO who has seen the safety light, and a union and management that back him. I say the Shaw way is the better way. Ancora is just more bean counting.
As soon as Boeing and GM focused on stock price and not service, they died.
Lets get back to square one. Service with safety.
They’re waiting to part-out NS like a ’68 Impala…
I agree with Paul, everything happened in less than 1 minute, so how are you going to stop? Ancora really knows railroading??? Maybe get out of the comfortable office and out on the tracks. Then let’s see how you would prevent what happened.
I will not vote for Ancora either. I don’t believe they know much about railroads. Send me the paperwork so I can vote no!
My question is this, if the second eastbound train was traveling at restricted speed, why could it not stop short of an obstruction as per the rules. As far as the westbound train goes, they had no idea that their track was blocked by derailed cars. Doesn’t say much for Ancora’s collective railroad experience.
Because they weren’t truly traveling at restricted speed and couldn’t stop in time.
Ancora’s exaggerations, divisive rhetoric, and erroneous conclusions do not speak well for the quality of its leadership team. Sorry, Ancora, but your nasty campaign will not win my vote.
Sounds like the fox salivating at the henhouse.
Smells like salivating vultures.