Economy

TRANSPORTATION

Freight railroads agree on safety measures after Ohio derailment

Industry is promising improvements to a network of hot bearing detectors and information-sharing with emergency responders

By Ian Duncan
Updated March 8, 2023 at 3:02 p.m. EST | Published March 8, 2023 at 2:45 p.m. EST

Major freight railroads have agreed among themselves to adopt new safety measures, pledging to expand a network of sensors designed to catch overheating bearings and setting a common standard for when those sensors warn train crews to stop and look for danger. ... The Association of American Railroads announced the steps Wednesday, saying the measures demonstrated the industry’s commitment to acting swiftly on safety as the National Transportation Safety Board continues to probe last month’s derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio.

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The steps the industry announced Wednesday — which include aid for emergency responders to better manage derailments — tackle safety issues raised by the FRA and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in advisories last week.

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The Association of American Railroads said freight lines would aim to install 1,000 new hotbox detectors on their networks, seeking to have the devices spaced, on average, 15 miles apart. That addition to the existing 6,000 detectors across the United States and Canada is expected to cost railroads at least $150 million, said Mike Rush, the association’s senior vice president for safety and operations. ... Norfolk Southern said Monday it would add 200 detectors. The devices measure the temperature of bearings on passing trains, sending a warning to crews if any are dangerously hot — a sign of an impending failure that can lead to a derailment.

The NTSB has said thresholds at which those warnings are issued vary among railroads. The association said the industry has agreed to a single standard, committing to stopping trains and inspecting bearings that read 170 degrees higher than the surrounding air. ... Norfolk Southern already used that standard, but on the route into East Palestine there are two detectors 10 miles apart, followed by a gap of 20 miles. The first two recorded elevated temperatures, but not above the 170-degree threshold. By the time the train passed the third, the temperature had spiked to 253 degrees above the ambient temperature, triggering a warning that came too late for the crew to safely stop the train.

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By Ian Duncan
Ian Duncan is a reporter covering federal transportation agencies and the politics of transportation. He previously worked at the Baltimore Sun for seven years, covering city hall, the military and criminal justice. He was part of the Sun's team covering Freddie Gray's death in 2015 and then-Mayor Catherine Pugh's Healthy Holly books scandal. Twitter https://twitter.com/iduncan