National Steel Car Exonerated in NS Derailment, Investigation Closed (Updated Oct. 18 with additional NTSB Information)

National Steel Car-built coil steel cars for Norfolk Southern are equipped with hoods from Trenergy Inc. Finished cars without hoods are transported by CN to short line Trillium Railway (TRRY) in Welland, Ont. TRRY delivers them to Trenergy in St. Catharines, Ont. (pictured). Following hood installation, TRRY returns them to CN, which delivers them to NS in Chicago.

Train consist makeup, not defective wheelsets, caused the March 4, 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in Springfield, Ohio. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) on April 14 cancelled EI (Equipment Instruction) 0033, which had directed a complete wheelset changeout on new coil steel railcars manufactured by National Steel Car, Hamilton, Ont., for NS and other carriers. Following that, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) removed National Steel Car as a party to its derailment investigation, citing procedural violations.

On Sept. 22, NTSB issued a “Safety Performance of Wheelsets Investigation Closeout Memo” (download below) that stated, in part, “As a result of the physical evidence and results of examinations, NTSB staff has determined that all wheelsets inspected were found to be in compliance with AAR’s Safety and Operations Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices Section G-11, Wheel and Axle Manual, effective October 2022. Therefore NTSB staff recommends that this investigation be closed.” NTSB Director, Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations Robert Hall agreed.

Following the derailment, NS zeroed in on three coil steel cars involved in the multi-car accident, one of which was the first to derail. The AAR WABL (Wheels, Axles, Bearings & Lubrication) Committee on March 9 issued EI-0033 to have wheelsets from these cars removed and inspected, as it thought they may have been “loose,” improperly mounted. However, after the NTSB, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and other organizations reviewed all data, including 7,000 records from National Steel Car of all 2,700 wheelsets installed on these cars, it was determined that all had been properly mounted. As a result of what National Steel Car called “mounting evidence,” the NTSB, FRA and AAR confirmed April 10 that the WABL Committee had voted, in an emergency meeting, to cancel EI-0033.

National Steel Car said it “did not agree with the AAR EI, but nevertheless immediately began collecting all relevant data for review because of our concern for safe railroad operations.” The company provided copies of its wheel mounting data for all 2,700 wheelsets applied to the 675 cars marked NS 162390 to 162749 and NKLX 400000 to 400314. The data “confirmed, without exception, that all of the subject wheelsets complied with the AAR GII Wheel Mounting Requirements.”

National Steel Car, calling NS’s claims about defective wheelsets “misleading,” pointed to an FRA Safety advisory on train makeup that cited the March 4 derailment: “Through the use of laser scan data, the three wheels that moved on their axles were proven to be a direct result of an enormous impact being applied to the wheelsets during the Springfield derailment,” National Steel Car owner Gregory Aziz said. “Further, the FRA on April 7 released Safety Advisory 2023-02, which stated that the FRA had ‘significant concerns related to train makeup and to ensure that all railroads exercise due diligence and recognize the importance of taking proactive measures to address potential safety risks related to operating train builds with varying configurations, load and empty placement, distributed power arrangement, and other factors.’

“The March 4 derailment was specifically mentioned in the FRA Safety Advisory: ‘The derailment happened at the sag between ascending and descending grades, with short, empty railcars designed to ship coil steel being the first to derail. Buff forces peaked as the downhill portion of the train ran-in, causing the derailment of cars 70-72 and the subsequent pileup.’

“We are very pleased that the cancellation of AAR EI-0033 completely exonerates National Steel Car, in all respects, regarding this derailment. Additionally, we stand ready to assist Norfolk Southern in any way we can.”

NTSB Decision

The NTSB on April 17 Monday removed National Steel Car as a party to its investigation into the derailment, citing that the company “violated the terms of the agency’s party agreement by releasing investigative information that had not yet been fully vetted or confirmed by the NTSB.”

”In a statement [April 14], National Steel Car claimed its steel coil wheelsets were cleared from involvement in the derailment,” the agency said. “However, the NTSB has not ruled out the role that the wheelsets may or may not have played in the derailment at this point in the investigation. The constraints placed on the release of information by party members exist to prevent the uncoordinated release of investigative information. The NTSB has used the party system for decades as part of the agency’s investigative process, which allows the sharing of factual investigative information during the early phases of an investigation. This sharing of information ensures a party to an investigation has sufficient information to take any immediate actions necessary to ensure safety. NTSB investigations are comprehensive, independent and thorough. Transparency in the investigative process is achieved through the public release of on-scene information, preliminary reports, the public docket, board meetings that are open to the public, and the public release of reports. Uncoordinated releases of information by parties to an investigation does not achieve transparency and does not further transportation safety or serve the public interest; rather, they only meet a party’s self-interests.”

Download NTSB’s letter from Investigator-in-Charge James Southward to National Steel Car Managing Director, Quality Assurance James Batchelor:

Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono contributed to this story.