Norfolk Southern axed technician jobs that could have stopped toxic derailment: union

Norfolk Southern, the rail operator running the freight train that catastrophically derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, eliminated jobs that were responsible for maintaining a key anti-derailment device in that region, reported FreightWaves on Thursday.

The accident spilled large amounts of toxic vinyl chloride into the surrounding environment and has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

"A device that can play a role in preventing derailments is the wayside hot-box detector. It uses infrared sensors to detect bearings, axles or other components of a rail car that are overheating, then uses radio signals to flag rail crews of any overheated components," reported Rachel Premack. "Wayside hot-box detectors — also called 'hot boxes' — are typically placed every 25 miles along a railroad, according to a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) report. Their use has contributed to a 59% decrease in train accidents caused by axle- and bearing-related factors since 1990, according to a 2017 Association of American Railroads study."

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the accident. A report on Tuesday indicated the rail car that caused the derailment had an overheated wheel bearing, but it is not yet clear that was the specific point of failure.

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According to the FreightWaves, Norfolk Southern used to have five "electronic leaders" who specialize in the maintenance of these types of devices — but has eliminated these positions.

“Once they eliminated that position, it fell to the signal maintainers who had no knowledge, no training or very, very little training on these hot-box detectors,” said Christopher Hand, a research official with the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen.

This comes after reporting that Norfolk Southern and other rail companies lobbied the Trump administration to block safety rules like a mandate for modernized braking systems that the accident train was not equipped with — as well as exempting several trains hauling hazardous chemicals from the "high-hazard" classification, meaning the braking rule wouldn't even have applied to this train if it were still in place.