A Norfolk Southern Railway mixed freight train carrying hazardous materials continued operating with an overheating bearing until the failed bearing caused an axle separation, derailing the train and leading to the postderailment fire and hazardous materials release. The train was equipped with inward- and outward-facing image and audio recorders, which provided investigators with key information about the accident sequence and established that the crew responded appropriately to the hot bearing alarm even though it sounded too late to prevent the derailment.
Norfolk Southern Railway Derailment and Hazardous Materials Release
| Feb. 3, 2023
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A Norfolk Southern Railway mixed freight train carrying hazardous materials continued operating with an overheating bearing until the failed bearing caused an axle separation, derailing the train and leading to the postderailment fire and hazardous materials release. The train operated past several hot bearing detectors designed to alert crews to overheating bearings, but the configuration of the system—the temperature thresholds and distances between detectors—prevented the system from warning the crew before the derailment.
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Investigation Docket
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Illustrated Digest - a companion to the investigation report with a description of the accident and subsequent actions, discusses safety issues and outlines safety recommendations
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A miswired hot bearing detector prevented the wayside defect detection system from alerting a Norfolk Southern Railway crew to a hot bearing on their freight train, which continued in operation until it derailed.
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A combination of defective track conditions caused an Amtrak passenger train to derail. A total of 52 people were injured, 3 of them fatally. Better use of onboard defect detection technologies could have identified the defective conditions in time to prevent the derailment.
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