Norfolk Southern’s top executives met this week with the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and committed to addressing the board’s safety recommendations in the wake of the railroad’s fiery 2023 derailment that upended an Ohio town.
The meeting and new safety commitment come just two weeks after the Atlanta-based railroad came under withering criticism in a federal hearing in which NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy accused the railroad of interfering with the agency’s investigation of the derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio.
The NTSB found the February 2023 derailment was caused by a defective wheel bearing, but other factors contributed to the release of hazardous materials including problems with a tank car, a delay in telling emergency responders what the train was carrying, and a decision to perform a controlled burn of toxic vinyl chloride after the wreck. The NTSB criticized Norfolk Southern for recommending the controlled burn.
Near the end of the June 25 hearing, Homendy called Norfolk Southern’s “abuse” of NTSB’s investigative process “unprecedented and reprehensible.”
On Wednesday, Norfolk Southern issued a news release saying it endorses the NTSB’s safety policy recommendations in its investigation of the East Palestine derailment.
The news release came after Homendy visited Norfolk Southern’s Atlanta headquarters and spoke at a company seminar focused on improving the company’s safety culture with field supervisors and labor leaders in attendance.
Homendy also toured the company’s network operations center and met with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw and other executives.
“We have a deep respect for Chair Homendy and the important work of the NTSB. We appreciate her leadership, willingness to collaborate with us on next steps, and direct engagement with our operational leaders,” Shaw said in a written statement. “Norfolk Southern and the NTSB share the same goal when it comes to safety. We’re committed to taking action that addresses their recommendations and to becoming the gold standard of safety for the industry.”
In a post on social media, the NTSB said Homendy called Norfolk Southern’s commitment “a great first step.”
The NTSB also said in the post it looks forward to working with Norfolk Southern and others “to improve safety and prevent future derailments.”
The recommendations Norfolk Southern said it supports include improving systems to detect defects on trains, modernizing tank cars that carry certain hazardous materials and getting critical information to emergency responders quickly after a wreck.
Norfolk Southern says it has already made some improvements to improve safety, including adding more hot bearing detectors and acoustic detectors along its tracks, constructing inspection portals that use cameras to check trains passing through and joining the Federal Railroad Administration’s Close Call Reporting System.
