Norfolk Southern ‘appreciates’ findings of NTSB investigation

Norfolk Southern Corporation issued the following statement regarding the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board on the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio: “Norfolk Southern appreciates the NTSB’s investigation, recommendations for enhancing rail safety and the acknowledgement of the steps Norfolk Southern has taken to improve safety. We share the commitment and over the last 16 months have implemented many enhancements and technologies to make our railroad even safer. Among the NTSB recommendations specific to Norfolk Southern, we have taken action to enable the immediate availability of train consist information to first responders and encourage contractors to share information to make emergency response decisions. In addition, we have substantially addressed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recommendations from its 2023 Safety Culture Assessment. As a result of these actions and others, Norfolk Southern’s mainline accident rate declined 38% last year to industry leading levels. We will move quickly to compare the NTSB’s recommendations to our current protocols and will implement those that advance our safety culture.”