WASHINGTON – The probable cause of a fatal accident involving a conductor trainee in CSX’s yard in Cumberland, Md., last summer was the train’s movement through an unidentified and unmitigated close clearance location, the National Transportation Safety Board said today.
During a shove move, the conductor trainee was caught between the side of the railcar he was riding and locomotives parked on an adjacent track, the safety board said in its final report on the Aug. 6 accident.
“The conductor trainee was riding on the side of a railcar on CSX train I13706 during an eastbound shoving movement when he struck the handrail of a locomotive parked on an adjacent track. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died,” the NTSB said today.
The conductor trainee was hired in June 2023 and was working with a conductor who was hired in August 2022.
“In this accident, a conductor trainee was fatally injured when he rode a shoving movement through a close clearance — a 7-inch gap — between his train and a series of parked locomotives. The conductor, riding a different ladder on the same railcar through the same gap, was not injured,” the NTSB said.
“Because the conductor did not see that the parked locomotives had created a temporary close clearance, and CSX did not provide signage or other tools to help him identify the hazard posed by track centerlines that do not meet modern standards, he and his trainee rode through the close clearance, resulting in the trainee’s death,” the NTSB said.
Following the accident, CSX took seven steps to prevent similar incidents:
- The city track, where the locomotives were parked, was taken out of service and is scheduled to be removed.
- Issued safety alert with a safety briefing on temporary close clearances on Aug. 10, 2023.
- Revised rules for field training such that when an employee with less than 1 year of service is assigned a trainee, a supervisor must be contacted prior to performing any work.
- Used geographic information system data to identify track centerlines 12 feet 6 inches apart or closer, flagged these tracks, and put in the existing close clearance index.
- Issued a system bulletin on October 1, 2023, about the close clearance index; employees are required to have this document available while on-duty.
- Lengthened conductor classroom training to five weeks from four, and also lengthened conductor field training.
- Hired four more managers to oversee mentors during conductors’ field training.
