NTSB Issues Preliminary Report on CSX Conductor Trainee Fatality
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Figure 1. Aerial view of the accident scene. (Source: CSX.)
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report for the investigation of the Aug. 6 accident involving a CSX conductor trainee fatally injured during a shoving movement at the CSX railroad yard in Cumberland, Md. The agency said future activity will focus on CSX employee training and close clearance identification practices of the standing locomotives.
At about 11:43 p.m. local time, a CSX conductor trainee was fatally injured during a shoving movement at CSX’s Cumberland, Md., railroad yard. The conductor trainee was riding on the side of an intermodal railcar on CSX train I13706 that was moving eastward on the track when he struck the handrail of a standing locomotive on an adjacent track (See Figure 1). He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died. Visibility conditions at the time of the accident, NTSB said, were dark and clear, and the temperature was 73°F.
According to the report, the crew of train I13706 consisted of an engineer, a conductor and the conductor trainee. The train was composed of two locomotives and three loaded articulated railcars.
Preliminary information, according to NTSB, indicates the conductor was directing the eastward shoving movement by radio to the engineer, who was in the locomotive cab. The conductor was positioned at the leading end of the movement, riding on a ladder on the south side of the final railcar in the consist. The conductor trainee was riding on the next ladder back on the same side of the same railcar. As the train reversed down the track at approximately 9 mph, it approached three locomotives parked on an adjacent track, and the accident occurred. Post-accident measurements taken by NTSB on scene indicated about seven inches of clearance between train I13706 and the standing locomotives. (See Figure 2)
While on scene, NTSB investigators examined data from the locomotive’s event recorder and image recorders; reviewed radio recordings, photographs, and drone-recorded video footage; completed interviews; and conducted accident reenactments to understand the position of the conductor trainee and the close clearance of the standing locomotives.
As a result of this accident, the Switching Operations Fatalities Analysis Working Group on Aug,. 11 issued an alert “advising railroad employees to remain vigilant when mentoring inexperienced employees and to conduct job briefings whenever a job changes.”
On Aug. 16, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued Safety Bulletin 2023:05: Shoving Movement Close Clearance Fatality, which “urges railroads to review employee training programs that address riding equipment in close-clearance situations and to consider marking close or no clearance areas with highly visible signs.”
Parities to the investigation, which is ongoing, include FRA; the Maryland Department of Labor; CSX, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET); and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers —Transportation Division (SMART-TD).
