EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) – Norfolk Southern announced a plan to immediately enhance its safety features Monday after the train derailment in East Palestine.
“Reading the NTSB report makes it clear that meaningful safety improvements require a comprehensive industry effort that brings together railcar and tank car manufacturers, railcar owners and lessors, and the railroad companies,” said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw.
The following is the company’s new six-point plan for railway safety.
- Enhance the hot bearing detector network: The company will add more bearing detectors where the spacing is more than 15 miles apart. The company plans to add around 200 new bearing detectors.
- Pilot next-generation hot bearing detectors: Norfolk Southern will work to accelerate testing and safety tech with will potentially catch overheated bearings more effectively.
- Work with industry on practices for hot bearing detectors: The company will review the standards and practices used with hot bearing detectors.
- Deploy more acoustic bearing detectors: Norfolk Southern will immediately add the deployment of new safety features, including acoustic bearing detectives.
- Accelerate digital train inspection program: The company will partner with Georgia Tech Research Institute to develop next generation safety technology with new machine vision and algorithms to detect repair needs.
- Support a strong safety culture: Norfolk Southern will join the Federal Railroad Administration’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System, which encourages railroaders to speak up if they see something that is unsafe.
The railway cars in East Palestine were operating as designed and within the company’s rules when the derailment happened.
