Norfolk Southern rolls out new safety plan

Norfolk Southern Railway today announced a six-point plan to improve the safety of its operations based on the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary findings following the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

"Reading the NTSB report makes it clear that meaningful safety improvements require a comprehensive industry effort that brings together rail car and tank car manufacturers, rail-car owners and lessors and the railroad companies," said NS President and CEO Alan Shaw in a press release. "We are eager to help drive that effort and we are not waiting to take action."

The Class I announced its actions following another NS train derailment in Ohio, which occurred March 4 near Springfield. No hazardous materials leaked from derailed cars, unlike the Feb. 3 accident in East Palestine.

NS officials said the company will immediately begin the following steps:

• Enhance the hot bearing detector network. NS is evaluating the distance between hot bearing detectors, which currently averages 13.9 miles on its core network. NS will examine every location on its core network where the distance is more than 15 miles and develop a plan to deploy 200 more detectors where practical, with the first installed on the western approach to East Palestine.
• Pilot next-generation hot bearing detectors. NS is working with manufacturers to accelerate the testing and deployment of safety technology on its network that can scan a greater cross-section of a rail car's bearings and wheels. These so-called “multi-scan" hot bearing detectors may offer the potential to catch overheated bearings more effectively.
• Work with the industry on practices for hot bearing detectors. NS intends to work with the industry on a comprehensive review of standards and practices for the use of hot bearing detectors.
• Deploy more acoustic bearing detectors. The railroad will immediately accelerate the use of acoustic bearing detectors that analyze the vibration inside the axle and can identify potential problems that a visual inspection could not. NS will add 13 new detectors to the five already in service, stationing these devices on high-traffic routes.
• Accelerate the NS digital train inspection program. NS is partnering with the Georgia Tech Research Institute to develop a next generation of its most advanced safety inspection technology, which uses machine vision and algorithms powered by artificial intelligence to identify defects and needed repairs much more effectively than traditional human inspection. The company is accelerating the installation of the next phase of this new technology on its corridor that connects the Midwest and Northeast, the same line that runs through East Palestine.