On March 9, 2023, about 6:19 a.m. local time, westbound Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) freight train 245A109 derailed 2 locomotives and 37 railcars on the Alabama East End District of its Gulf Division near Anniston, Alabama. 

The derailment involved two sections of the train, resulting in two derailment sites. The first derailment site was located at the front of the train and where 2 locomotives and 29 railcars derailed. At the second site, located near the rear of the train, eight railcars derailed. Three of the cars that derailed were tank cars carrying hazardous materials. These tank cars remained intact and did not release hazardous materials. 

There were no reported fatalities or injuries. NS estimated damages to equipment, track, and signal infrastructure to be about $2.9 million. 

At the time of the accident, visibility conditions were clear with early morning daylight; the weather was 57°F with no precipitation.​

We determined that the probable cause of this accident was the combination of the coupling together of two revenue waybill locomotives without alignment control couplers, in violation of Norfolk Southern Railroad rules, and excessive in-train forces created due to the build of the train. Contributing to the accident was the misidentification of couplers without alignment control during the Norfolk Southern Railroad inspection process.​​