Derailment= East Palestine Ohio

NPR had NS's CEO on All Things Considered yesterday, and I got to hear it a bit... but here's the audio and transcript:
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/22/11896257 ... st-palesti

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

It's been about five months since a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals crashed in East Palestine, a town right on the edge of the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, a little south of Youngstown. A number of the cars were carrying hazardous materials. And in an attempt to avoid a possible explosion, there was a controlled dayslong burn of those chemicals. Residents within a mile radius of the crash were evacuated. Days later, the evacuation order was lifted, and some residents say they developed rashes and nausea. The crash became a national flashpoint and a hot-button issue on both sides of the aisle. Not long after the derailment, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw found himself in front of Congress, being grilled by a group of bipartisan lawmakers. In March, Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts asked Shaw whether he would support legislation requiring two-person train crews at minimum. Shaw didn't answer.

A whole bunch of f'kin blah blah blah from Shaw.

The governor of Pennsylvania has announced that NS will be paying Darlington, PA, a town adjecent to East Palestine, OH, $660K for Communiy Relief and also $340K to residents of the town. Darlington is adjacent to East Palestine, just across the state line in PA and sent the primary responding units to the derailment. Also, NS will be paying $1 Million to replace First Responders equipment effected by the chemicals from the derailment. I am sure we will be hearing more in the future. No word on what Ohio and the residents of East Palestine can expect in the way of settlements.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:41 pm It just won't go away:

Nor should it. The cost needs to be high enough both monetarily and in terms of publicity so that they (and any other RR’s who don’t want to end up in the same boat) get serious and stay serious about making sure it doesn’t happen again.

As with most really important things, it's up to top management to resolve conflicts between competing priorities. On a railroad, this is an example:

Safety is of first importance in the discharge of duty;
Obedience to the rules is essential to safety;
In case of doubt the safe course must be taken.

Whereas, on the ground ...

Get the @#$%^&* trains moving!!!

It's management's job to decide -- and make known -- which it's going to be.

"Efficiency" and safety are not always in sync...

Norfolk Southern announced a new policy on overheaded bearings today. It took them longer enough to make up their minds.

https://www.wtae.com/article/norfolk-so ... s/44705181

In short:

If a hot bearing is detected, the train must stop and inspect. If said bearing looks damaged, the train is stuck until a mechanical inspector comes to inspect it. Meanwhile, the train's MAS is 10 MPH and must stop every three miles to inspect the bearing.

The question now is... why it took another (minor) derailment of a coal train to get that policy in place?

Before Joining Federal Safety Program, Freight Railroads Push to Change It

After the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the nation’s major freight railroads agreed to join a federal program for workers to report safety issues. But first, they want it to be overhauled

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/us/p ... afety.html

...
But five months after that commitment, none of the railroads have formally joined the program.
...
But that scrutiny is fading, and Mr. Buttigieg’s goal of bolstering safety could be undermined if the companies secure changes to the program that end up watering it down.

The program, known as the Confidential Close Call Reporting System, began as a pilot in 2007 and was later expanded. It is voluntary for railroads, and it allows their employees to report so-called close calls — such as a train exceeding the maximum speed or a mishap with a track switch — without the fear of discipline.

The program is modeled after a Federal Aviation Administration program that allows pilots and other aviation personnel to report safety issues.
....

No surprise here, alas. Just what was expected. Wave the wand enthusiastically while moving the rabbit with the other hand.

I should note that the aviation community widely views the NASA-run ASRS system as one of the biggest improvement in aviation safety in decades. No commercial or General Aviation pilot I've asked has said anything that wasn't positive. It's revealed thousands of flaws that fell between the cracks of the system, and got them resolved.

Five months have passed and nobody in a position of authority has yet answered the question "Why didn't the Salem HBD stop the train?"

As a note, an investigation testimony gathering hearing NG happened June 22-23.

The NTSB page announcing it is https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Pages/ ... Event.aspx

Based on NTSB history, we can expect findings in June 2024.