A drone photo shows parts of a derailed Norfolk Southern freight train overnight in East Palestine, Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar | AP
Hours after a 28-car Norfolk Southern train derailed Saturday in Springfield, Ohio — the third such incident for the freight railroad in just over a month, including a toxic disaster in East Palestine, Ohio — internal emails show railroad officials are making major safety adjustments to the railroad. car.
An internal South Norfolk An email sent Sunday and obtained by CNBC with a time stamp of approximately 11 hours after the latest derailment indicated that Norfolk Southern was planning to reduce the length of the train in an effort to prevent future incidents. Sources told CNBC that the email was given to a Norfolk Southern yard manager, who is a union worker responsible for stacking trains.
A Norfolk Southern spokesperson told CNBC that the guidance has been updated and the train operator now mandates that trains over 10,000 feet use distributed power, meaning the train will be powered from several locations along the length of the train, not just from the front. . Distributed locomotives are wirelessly controlled from the main locomotive with the necessary power and brakes to help manage the forces on the train.
Norfolk Southern told CNBC other rail operators now have this safety practice in place.
“At Norfolk Southern, the safety of our crew and the community we serve comes first,” said Connor Spielmaker, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern, in an email. “Part of improving safety is constantly evaluating how we operate our network, and we have examined direct ways to move the goal forward. Today, as an interim measure, we ensure that all trains with a length of 10,000 feet are operated with distributive power. We will build These interim changes are intended to address the final policy that is appropriate for every part of our rail.”
Norfolk Southern told CNBC that it is actively reviewing all safety protocols to ensure trains are running properly on the network.
However, Jeremy Ferguson, president of the SMART-Transportation Division, the nation’s largest railroad union, said workers were told the railroad would limit the length of trains.
“I have seen Norfolk Southern’s documents to the yardmasters [Monday] morning from the field that tells the train no more than 10,000 feet regardless of the power distributed, “said Ferguson. I would say that Norfolk Southern took the right step to reduce the length of the train, because the train is too long.
The length of the train has been a contentious issue for the railroads and unions in negotiations. Railroads now run on what is called precision scheduled railroading, or PSR, which has resulted in longer trains – up to three miles.
Trains are stacked based on destination, not weight distribution, with destination stacking first at the head of the train and in order until the last drop-off.
Railroads have redesigned the length of trains in an effort to use less people and to move more cars with less locomotives, reducing costs and generating more profit. But unions and rail customers have raised concerns about safety and service.
The derailment in Springfield marked the third derailment since the February 3 East Palestine train disaster, in which hazardous materials were spilled.
On February 16, a 135-car Norfolk Southern train traveling from Detroit to Peru, Indiana, derailed approximately 14 miles outside the yard in Romulus, Michigan. According to the investigation report for the incident, the tonnage profile showed heavy cars at the head of the train, in the middle and at the back, with empty cars scattered throughout.
The derailment is still under investigation, but according to one on-site investigative report, human error may have been a large factor: “Engineers panicked and applied heavy dynamic braking resulting in the application of emergency brakes and derailment.”
The National Transportation Safety Board announced it is sending investigators to the Springfield site.