Officials with the Federal Railroad Administration today confirmed the cause of February’s CSX/Plains All American train derailment in Mount Carbon, West Virginia and announced new rail standards resulting from the investigation.

Investigators concluded that a broken rail, resulting from a vertical split head rail defect, was to blame for the accident, which resulted in 27 derailed cars and a fire that burned for days and forced the evacuation of hundreds of local residents. They also revealed that the defect was missed on at least two separate inspections by both CSX and their contractor, Sperry Rail Service conducted in December and January. Furthermore, the broken rail was located near a previous broken rail that had been discovered by an FRA inspector and repaired in May 2014. Both CSX and Sperry were fined $25,000 each for failure to verify a potential rail defect.

To help minimize risk and prevent similar accidents in the future, FRA officials also announced the following:

• A safety advisory urging closer and more detailed inspections of suspected flaws and defects, as well as improved training for all rail inspection vehicle operators;
• Plans to explore the need for rail-head wear standards and to potentially require railroads to slow trains or replace rails when certain conditions pose safety risks;
• And a commitment from CSX that the company will require internal rail flaw operators to review previous inspection data alongside real-time data. This will undoubtedly help to identify conditions and flaws that have changed or worsened between inspections.

“Our country relies on the safe transportation of large quantities of energy products across the nation, and it is our responsibility to require operators to implement strict safety standards,” US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. “FRA’s findings and action today should make it clear to rail operators that we will do exactly that.”

Broken rail is among the leading causes of accidents and is of particular concern when the trains traveling on flawed tracks are carrying crude oil or other hazardous materials through communities. If you suffer an injury or loss that you believe was caused by such a flaw, or if you are a railway industry employee with knowledge of such an issue that has yet to be addressed, contact Jacksonville’s Rail Justice at 888-519-RAIL.