FRA points finger at broken rail, pushes for improved rail inspection following W.Va. derailment

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
image description

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) says that the cause of the February 16, 2015 CSX/Plains All American derailment in Mount Carbon, W.Va. was a broken rail from a rail head defect.

The accident resulted in 27 derailed cars, a fire that ignited immediately and eventually burned for days and the evacuation of hundreds of local residents.

FRA was the lead agency tasked with responding to and investigating the accident. Following a thorough investigation, the FRA announced the cause of the derailment to be a broken rail, resulting from a vertical split head rail defect. FRA notes that the defect that eventually resulted in the derailment was missed by CSX and its contractor, Sperry Rail Service, on two separate inspections in the months leading up to the accident.

FRA also provided a path forward to prevent similar rail-caused accidents in the future. The agency will release a Safety Advisory, which urges closer and more detailed inspections where defects and flaws are suspected and stronger training for rail inspection vehicle operators; it will explore the need for rail-head wear standards and potentially require railroads to slow trains or replace a rail when certain conditions pose a safety risk and FRA secured a commitment from CSX to require internal rail-flaw operators to review previous inspection data alongside real-time data in order to assist in identifying conditions and flaws that have changed or worsened between inspections.

“Our country relies on the safe transportation of large quantities of energy products across the nation and it is our responsibility to require operators to implement strict safety standards,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “FRA’s findings and action today should make it clear to rail operators that we will do exactly that.”

FRA says the derailment-causing rail-flaw was missed in at least two separate rail inspections in December 2014 and January 2015. Data from both inspections show evidence of the defect, but neither CSX or Sperry Rail Service discovered the defect, which led to the broken rail. FRA has issued $25,000 fines against both CSX and Sperry Rail Service for failure to verify a potential rail defect.

“When we see a need for action, we will take it and that is what FRA is doing today. Broken rail is one of the leading causes of accidents. Railroads moving crude and other hazardous materials through and alongside communities bear significant and special responsibility. All railroads, not just CSX, must be more diligent when inspecting for internal rail flaws or when contracting out inspection work,” said FRA Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg. “This is just our latest effort to increase the safe transportation of crude and other energy products.”

 

Tags:

Media