(The following story by Jim Nesbitt appeared on the Augusta Chronicle website on January 12.)
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — While investigators focus on an apparent switching error in the wreck of Norfolk Southern Train 192, railroad unions and workplace experts point to a range of related safety issues surrounding the deadly accident, where nine people were killed by a massive chlorine gas leak.
One such issue is potential fatigue of both the crew of Train 192 and a local crew shuttling cars onto a spur line the day before the 2:39 a.m. Thursday wreck. Other issues include the availability of common railroad switch and signal-box keys and the dispatch system used to direct trains traveling miles of track without signals, known as “dark territory.”
Of these, the fatigue of crew members working in a freight system stressed by a steep rise in traffic and the departure of veteran engineers, conductors and other workers is the prime contributing factor to miscues that can lead to wrecks, said John Bentley, a spokesman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the two unions representing workers at the nation’s seven railroads.
“The crews that are out there are being pushed to the limit and sometimes beyond the limit, so fatigue is a real problem,” Mr. Bentley said. “People working for the railroad are pretty much on call all the time.”
Roughly 223,000 people work for the nation’s seven railroads, federal Railroad Retirement Board figures state.
Congress lowered the requirements for retirement in 2001 to 60 years old and 30 years of service. That triggered an exodus of 27,398 veteran railroad workers through last year.
Freight demands are expected to increase by 67 percent in the next 20 years, while railroads are expected to add 80,000 workers in the next six years, Association of American Railroads statistics show.
Federal law requires railroad workers to get eight or 10 hours off after working an eight-hour shift. But that downtime is frequently eaten up by travel between the train and the nearest crew base, paperwork, meals and other activities, Mr. Bentley said.
“A lot of time, a crew is stuck out in the middle of nowhere when their 12 hours is up,” he said. “So the eight hours of rest is no eight hours of rest – there’s a lot travel time out there.”
The round-the-clock operations of a railroad heightens the risk of fatigue-triggered errors by engineers, conductors, brakemen and dispatchers, said Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, a former Harvard University medical school professor who runs a Boston consulting firm that advises industry on worker sleep and fatigue issues.
“Any industry that runs 24/7 – railroads, airlines, trucking, manufacturing – has to deal with fatigue,” said Dr. Moore-Ede, who heads Circadian Technologies Inc.
Another safety concern is the easy availability of common railroad switch and signal-box keys – an issue rooted in the industry’s 19th-century origins. Brass keys bearing the logos of defunct railroads are collector’s items, Mr. Bentley said, and can even be found on eBay. Even Norfolk Southern’s “102” switch keys have appeared for auction, he said.
“Someone can get in and tamper with switches and signals and cause a catastrophe,” said Mr. Bentley, whose union has informed Federal Rail Administration officials about the issue.
Union officials and safety experts also are concerned about the dispatch procedures along “dark territory” tracks, such as the one that runs through Graniteville.
Instead of relying on both clearance from dispatchers and signals that indicate conditions farther down the track, such as whether switches are properly aligned, engineers on “dark territory” runs have only the assurance of the dispatcher that the track is clear.
“Crews are in the dark in ‘dark territory,'” Mr. Bentley said. “If railroads would spend a little more money to upgrade the signal system, accidents like this could be prevented.”