NTSB releases final report on fatal accident involving CSX conductor trainee

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday announced its investigative findings for a 2023 accident in which a CSX conductor trainee died after he fell from an intermodal rail car and was struck by the train he was riding on during a shoving movement.

The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident was the conductor trainee, who CSX sent into the field without performance-based verification that he could safely ride an intermodal rail car, was riding the intermodal rail car in an unstable position that left him vulnerable to slipping and falling into the train’s path.

According to the NTSB, the following contributed to the accident:
• deficient CSX operating rules, which did not provide adequate protection against the risk of slipping;
• deficient CSX Transportation training, which did not provide sufficient training on how to ride intermodal rail cars; and
• the lack of research-based federal guidance for the safe use of rail-car safety appliances when riding equipment.

As a result of the accident, the NTSB made safety improvement recommendations to CSX, the Federal Railroad Administration and to the other Class I railroads. To CSX, the board recommended that the railroad:
• revise its operating rules to instruct employees on how to safely ride all the types of rail cars in various situations that employees might encounter, such as riding across grade crossings; and
• after completing the above action, provide initial and annual recurring training to all employees on the revised operating rules.

To read the full NTSB report, click here.