NTSB cited crew worker fatigue as a contributing factor in this 2004 Union Pacific fatality in Macdona, Texas. EPA photo
A widely circulated analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism has found that too little is being done to counter safety lapses related to fatigue in the railroad industry, leading to preventable accidents and death. Behind the lax oversight is the rail industry’s powerful lobbying arm, which is actively working to reduce train inspections and repair requirements while loosening rules aimed at preventing crew fatigue.
The Howard Center reviewed NTSB investigation reports and found that fatigue-related accidents killed at least nine people and injured over 300 from 2015 through 2024. The findings on fatigue are the latest in a series of reports on rail safety released by the Howard Center, which is housed at the University of Maryland. In August the Howard Center released “Off the Rails: Exposing Risk and Regulatory Gaps in North America’s Railroad Industry.”
In its most recent report on fatigue BLET General Chairman Scott Bunten, who has worked at Norfolk Southern for over 20 years, and as a locomotive engineer since 2012, was quoted saying, “If I go back through my career as an engineer and I think about mistakes that I made, I can almost attribute all of them to fatigue.”
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