PITTSBURGH — Norfolk Southern says a broken rail caused the August derailment which sent cars from a stack train tumbling onto a station of Pittsburgh’s light rail system.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that NS sent a report to the Federal Railroad Administration citing the broken rail as the cause of the Aug. 5 accident, which caused about $853,000 in damage to equipment and track. The derailment occured shortly after a Port Authority light rail train had passed through the Station Square stop. [See “NS intermodal train crashes next to Pittsburgh hot spot,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 13, 2018.]
NS spokesman Rudy Husband told the Tribune-Review that the track had been inspected shortly before the derailment: “We have a very robust track inspection program. We inspect our track on a very regular basis because derailments are bad for business.”
Seven cars of containers fell from a track above the Port Authority line, damaging 1,000 feet of the railroad, 1,600 feet of light-rail track and 4,000 feet of power lines. The light rail route was disrupted for several weeks.
The Port Authority declined to comment on the NS report, but said it is still calculating costs from the accident and intends to bill NS for the damage.
The FRA is continuing to investigate the incident.
