WASHINGTON — A Norfolk Southern conductor suffered serious injuries in an accident in Norfolk, Va., when did not confirm that rolling stock was stationary before working in the path of a free-rolling car — and NS operating rules did not explicitly address the need to do so, the National Transportation Safety Board said in determining the probable cause of the Aug. 27, 2024, incident at Lambert’s Point Yard.
The NTSB issued its final report on the incident today (July 15, 2025).
The incident occurred about 10:10 p.m. local time. A crew switching coal hoppers at the Lambert’s Point Yard made multiple attempts to couple one car to a string of 19 behind the locomotive; on the last of these, the 20th car rolled upgrade, and the conductor asked the engineer to stop the train and apply three-step protection to prevent the train from moving. Less than a minute later, the conductor was struck by the loose car, which had rolled back downgrade. NTSB investigators discovered that the last car on the string, No. 19, had a defective coupler that prevented it from coupling to the 20th car.
An NS rule at the time of the accident required that employees not go between separated cars and locomotives unless they were separated by at least 50 feet, but did not specifically instruct workers to secure free-rolling equipment. “The lack of a specific instruction to protect against unexpected down-grade movements — such as by applying hand brakes — was a missed opportunity to tailor the rule to hazards specific to the area of Lambert’s Point yard where the accident occurred,” the NTSB report says. “The omission of this instruction by NS probably contributed to this accident because the conductor likely did not realize that the free-rolling stock had not come to a complete stop.”
As a result of the accident, NS issued special instructions for Lambert’s Point Yard including doubling the required separation distance to 100 feet, and requiring employees to approach within 5 feet of equipment to ensure it is completely stopped before fouling a track. NS also conducted a 10-day safety stand-down and training in August and September of 2024, addressing specifics of the accident as well as general safety training.
The Federal Railroad Administration also issued a safety bulletin on the risks of going between equipment when switching.
