Accident Investigation Summary Report HQ-2023-1847
- Federal Railroad Administration
New Castle, PA
United States
On May 10, 2023, Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) freight train 14M derailed nine cars at Milepost YG 75.56 on the NS Youngstown Line in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The derailment was caused by the failure of the left No. 1 (L1) roller bearing on car CRDX 3017, with the bearing temperature recorded at 253°F above ambient at the last hot bearing detector (HBD). The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) investigation found that improper reinstallation of the Vale HBD and NS’s software issues contributed to the accident, along with transmissions from another HBD and operational challenges.