On May 10, 2023, about 10:57 p.m., northbound Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) general merchandise freight train 14M derailed nine mixed-freight railcars on the Youngstown Line at milepost (MP) 76.56 in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The derailed equipment included one hazardous material tank car, which was not breached, that contained paraffin. There were no reported fatalities or injuries. NS estimated damages to equipment and track infrastructure to be about $6.1 million.
On the Youngstown Line of the Keystone Division, NS equipped its rail network with wayside hot bearing detectors (HBDs) to measure the temperature of wheel bearings while trains are en route. The function of the HBD is to detect overheated bearings, provide real time audible alarm messages to train crews, and alert railroad technicians monitoring the advanced train control (ATC) system.
The investigation into the derailment of train 14M10 identified issues involving the crew’s operating performance, miswiring of the Vale HBD, and NS automatic train control (ATC) desk procedures.
NTSB determined that there is a lack of federal regulations for:
- HBD testing,
- Inspections,
- maintenance,
- site specific circuit plans management,
- detector parameter settings,
- employee training,
- operations procedures.
With the implementation of federal wayside detection regulations, nationwide expectations by railroads and shippers would be commonly understood and would lead to reliable, consistent and safer operations of trains. In addition, NTSB investigation RRD23MR006 (East Palestine, Ohio) also focused on the needed regulatory measures concerning wayside detectors and wheel bearing performance.
Postaccident Actions
In a party submission, NS detailed measures that have been implemented to address issues identified in this investigation.
While a final report for this investigation was not developed, the information from items in the investigation docket were used to support safety issues identified in the East Palestine investigation and may be used in future investigations, reports, or other mission-related activities.
We produced an investigation close-out memorandum, which can be found in our docket.
