A friend of mine directed my attention to Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety Analysis website Section 2.03, “Train Accidents by Railroad Group,” in which it is possible to search, sort, select and summarize railroad accidents, derailments and causes, and compare years to years. In this case, the comparison is year-to-dates, with the dates being January-September 2024 in comparison to January-September 2023.
FRA throws in and compares 2021, 2022 and all of 2023, but my concern is the January-September 2024 numbers vs. the January-September 2023 numbers.
First, some words of caution: Some of the year-to-date comparisons are the result of my own calculations, so the risk of error might be exponentially higher than if a fourth grader had been assigned the task. It’s quite possible my grandson could have done a better job, but he wasn’t interested. Plus, my official New York Yankees calculator gave up the ghost about the time Soto became Soto, Inc., a an SAC company, and I have yet to replace it, or him, although signing Max Fried and Cody Bellinger was a good beginning. Still hate Steinbrenner, though. Have always hated Steinbrenner. Always will.
Also, the numbers represent just that—the number of accidents (incidents). These are not frequencies, rates or weighted averages. They have not been subjected to a common denominator, like million ton-miles or train-miles or employee hours. Still …
Not three-quarters bad. For the designated period, the Class I’s recorded an overall decline in all types of accidents on all track types of 22.7%, including a decline in derailments of 22.5%. Each Class I reported a decline in accidents, January to September, ranging from 27.2% on Union Pacific to 7.7% on CN.
The top three causes for accidents—improperly lined switches, failure to control a shoving movement, failure to properly position an employee to “protect” the shoving movement, which account for 1 in 6 accidents—declined 30%.
Focusing specifically on main track derailments, UP and BNSF recorded an increase, while overall, the Class I’s experienced a decline of 11.4%. Norfolk Southern reported a decline of 55%, so I recommend everyone interested in long trains and derailments find out what NS did in 2024.
Derailments due to defective wheel bearings declined 53%.
Improper use of dynamic brake caused three main track derailments vs. one in the 2023 period, while improper train makeup in the initial terminal declined to one incident in 2024.
The future isn’t so bright that we’re going to be wearing wraparound sunglasses. Three quarters aren’t exactly a trend, but there are worse ways to mark the end of three-fourths of a year. Happy final quarter!
David Schanoes is Principal of Ten90 Solutions LLC, a consulting firm he established upon retiring from MTA Metro-North Railroad in 2008. David began his railroad career in 1972 with the Chicago & North Western, as a brakeman in Chicago. He came to New York in 1977, working for Conrail’s New Jersey Division. David joined Metro-North in 1985. He has spent his entire career in operations, working his way up from brakeman to conductor, block operator, dispatcher, supervisor of train operations, trainmaster, superintendent, and deputy chief of field operations. “Better railroading is 10% planning plus 90% execution,” he says. “It’s simple math. Yet, we also know, or should know, that technology is no substitute for supervision, and supervision that doesn’t utilize technology isn’t going to do the job. That’s not so simple.”
