Norfolk Southern train derails with the worst possible timing

Talk about bad timing.

Just hours before Norfolk Southern Railway CEO, Alan Shaw, was set to testify in front of Congress about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, another Norfolk Southern train derailed.

At 6:45 am on Thursday, 9 March, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Calhoun County, Alabama.

“Initial reports indicate approximately 30 cars derailed,” a post from Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency said on Facebook. “There are no injuries and no reports of leaks of hazmat also, we have no road blockages.”

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They stressed there was no danger to the public.

The derailment comes just weeks after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio, releasing potentially hazardous chemicals into the air.

The Ohio train derailment marks the fifth significant accident Norfolk Southern has had since December 2021.

It also comes just hours before Shaw was set to testify about the Ohio train derailment in front of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

“We are also committed to learning from this accident and working with public officials and the industry to make railroads even safer,” Shaw told lawmakers Thursday afternoon.

Congresspeople grilled Shaw and criticised Norfolk Southern for the number of accidents the company has experienced.

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) told Shaw, “You’re not having a good month” adding that “it seems like every week there’s another accident that Norfolk Southern is a part of.”

During the Senate committee hearing, Shaw said Norfolk Southern would “clean the site” in East Palestine, Ohio, “safely, thoroughly, and with urgency.”

Indy100 reached out to Norfolk Southern for comment.

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