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Norfolk Southern has been in the news a lot lately – and not for good reasons. After two train derailments just in the state of Ohio within a month apart from each other, nobody thought the company could bring even more bad news to the state anytime soon. Well, that exact thing happened on Tuesday when a Norfolk Southern train conductor was killed aboard a company train that collided with a dump truck. Now, with this tragic incident occurring, the National Transportation Safety Board has launched a full-scale investigation into the company. 

Norfolk Southern has been subjected to a special investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board as a result of recent derailments and an accident Tuesday that left one conductor dead.

According to a press release, the special probe will examine the company’s organizational culture and safety practices.

A dump truck collided with a train at a steel facility in Cleveland on Tuesday morning, killing a Norfolk Southern conductor. Cleveland Police said a dump truck carrying limestone collided with the first car of the train, striking the conductor, Louis Shuster.

This incident came just days after a second Norfolk Southern train derailed in Springfield, Ohio. 

Here’s the moment it happened:

28 out of 212 cars of the train derailed during its journey through the town. 

Here’s a look at the aftermath of the derailment.

This derailment – while still a huge inconvenience and unacceptable situation – does not compare to the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3rd. 

Near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, a Norfolk Southern train carrying three locomotives, nine empty cars, and 141 loaded cars – 20 of which carried hazardous materials – derailed on February 3rd.

Due to the controlled release of poisonous gasses that took place on February 6th to prevent an explosion following the derailment of 50 train carriages, ten of which carried hazardous materials, hundreds of local residents were evacuated. Despite the EPA’s assurance that the area is safe to return to, many residents remain skeptical – and others are still reporting illnesses.

The remaining two incidents being investigated by the NTSB include one that took place in December of last year which saw a Norfolk Southern trainee conductor killed and another conductor injured.

The other, which occurred in December 2021, saw an employee for National Salvage and Service Corporation assigned to work with a Norfolk Southern work team replacing track was “killed when the operator of a spike machine reversed direction and struck the employee.”

The accountability for the deaths of Norfolk Southern train conductors and derailments in Ohio so far has been simply unacceptable. Therefore, it is only fitting that the National Transportation Safety Board investigates these matters fully to ensure justice is served and public findings are made available. With two train derailments occurring in Ohio within just one month apart and now another unfortunate death of an employee, it’s a no-brainer why a thorough investigation needs to take place. We can only hope that these exhaustive measures will help prevent any another tragedy similar to these from ever happening again.

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