Norfolk Southern Can’t Dismiss Ohio Train Accident as a Fluke
An NTSB report points to a mechanical failure, but that doesn’t mean safety and corporate response shouldn’t be improved.
Norfolk Southern opened itself up to speculation and finger-pointing that will be difficult to quash.
Photographer: Angelo Merendino/Getty Images
The Norfolk Southern Corp. train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month looks more like a case of bad luck than gross negligence. But that doesn’t mean the railroad or the industry is off the hook.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released the preliminary findings from its investigation into the Feb. 3 accident, which sent cars carrying toxic chemicals off the tracks, forcing a controlled release and ignition of vinyl chloride — a colorless, carcinogenic gas that’s used to make hard plastic resin — to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion. The accident appears to have been triggered by an overheated bearing on the train’s 23rd car, according to the NTSB. Norfolk Southern had equipped the rail line with heat detectors, which are designed to warn crews when wheel temperatures get out of whack. The train passed three of these sensors on its trip before derailing; the first and second checkpoints registered bearing temperatures that were below warning thresholds established by Norfolk Southern for conditions that warrant stopping and inspecting the train. When the train passed the third sensor some 20 miles later, the temperature of the bearing had jumped considerably and the rail line detectors sounded an audible alarm. The crew was trying to slow and stop the train when it derailed.