Norfolk Southern train derails in Alabama

Derailed freight cars

PIEDMONT, Ala. — Thirty-seven cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed this morning (Thursday, March 9) in rural Calhoun County near the town of Piedmont, shortly before the railroad’s CEO began testimony before Congress on the railroad’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. No hazardous materials were involved in the Alabama incident, which occurred about 6:50 […]

Read More…

FRA launches 60-day assessment of Norfolk Southern safety

Aerial view of derailed boxcars and auto rack

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration announced this evening (Tuesday, March 7) that it would conduct a 60-day supplemental safety assessment of Norfolk Southern Railway, joining the National Transportation Safety Board, which has announced its own investigation of NS safety practices. “After a series of derailments and the death of one of its workers, we […]

Read More…

Norfolk Southern employee killed in Cleveland accident (updated)

Norfolk Southern logo

CLEVELAND — A Norfolk Southern employee has been killed in a collision between a train and a dump truck this morning (Tuesday, March 7), according to news reports. WJW-TV reports the accident occurred early this morning on the rail line through the Cleveland-Cliffs Cleveland Works steelmaking facility, and that the victim has been identified by […]

Read More…

Wheel bearing expert: To prevent derailments, railroads should equip freight cars with sensors

Hot box and dragging equipment detector.

Installing sensors on freight cars is the only way to prevent another disastrous derailment like the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern hazardous materials wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, a wheel bearing expert says. Constantine Tarawneh, a mechanical engineering professor who heads the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, […]

Read More…

Norfolk Southern taking steps to improve wayside detector network

Black cloud of smoke above town

Norfolk Southern will take several steps to improve its wayside defect detector network in the wake of the National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report on last month’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. NTSB officials say the Feb. 3 wreck of train 32N was likely caused by the catastrophic failure of a wheel bearing on […]

Read More…

NS train derails in Springfield, Ohio (updated)

Aerial view of derailed freight cars

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Twenty-eight cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed near Springfield on Saturday evening, leading to an initial shelter-in-place order from local authorities before it was determined no hazardous-materials situation was involved. The Associated Press reports that there were no hazardous materials aboard the train and no injuries were involved. Clark County reported […]

Read More…

NTSB expresses concerns about protective covers on tank cars

An "energetic pressure release" from a vinyl chloride tank car at East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 4, 2023. NTSB.

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board says it is “looking closely” at aluminum protective covers on tank cars involved in the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, over concerns those covers melted on three of the cars, which may have hampered the performance of pressure relief devices. The issue occurred on three of the five cars […]

Read More…