By Justin Franz
Norfolk Southern released a “six-point plan to immediately enhance the safety of its operations” on Monday, two days after yet another derailment in Ohio and three days before its CEO, Alan Shaw, is expected to testify before Congress about the railroad’s recent toxic train wreck in East Palestine.
More than a month after NS train 32N derailed, scrutiny of NS and the nation’s freight rail system as a whole continues to grow. Shaw will testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday, as Congress considers new legislation to make railroads safer. The bipartisan Railway Safety Act would require more trackside hotbox detectors, steeper fines for safety violations and more. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill into law if it got to his desk.
On Monday, in hopes of trying to show that it was taking safety seriously, NS released a new train defect detection plan. As part of it, the railroad intends on adding upwards of 200 new defect detectors across the system; piloting next-generation hot bearing detection technology; deploying more acoustic bearing detectors; working with industry on reviewing its current defect detector standards; and accelerating its “Digital Train Inspection” program, which uses artificial intelligence to inspect trains. An initial investigation into the East Palestine derailment by the National Transportation Safety Board found that train 32N derailed due to a failed wheel bearing.
“Reading the NTSB report makes it clear that meaningful safety improvements require a comprehensive industry effort that brings together railcar and tank car manufacturers, railcar owners and lessors, and the railroad companies,” Shaw said. “We are eager to help drive that effort and we are not waiting to take action.”
While Shaw was hoping to turn the corner from the East Palestine wreck with his new six-point plan, yet another headline-grabbing derailment in Ohio might have made that impossible. On Saturday, 180 miles southwest of East Palestine, another NS train derailed. No one was injured and no hazardous materials were spilled, but 28 cars on a 212-car train ended up on the ground near Springfield. Local officials asked residents near the site to shelter in place briefly following the derailment Saturday afternoon so that they could confirm the claim that there were no hazardous materials on the train. The NTSB is investigating the second derailment.
