Another Norfolk Southern train has derailed in North Carolina, but the company says there were no hazardous materials aboard … and that there’s no danger to the public this time.
One of the freight train’s 132 cars fell off the tracks Saturday morning near Lexington, which affected a few Amtrak trains’ paths near Greensboro/surrounding areas. The announcement from one Amtrak train went out around 9:20 AM, but the path was partially clear again about an hour later … so it sounds like a cleanup crew was able to get out there quickly.
Piedmont Train 75 is now stopped in Greensboro (GRO) due to a disabled freight train blocking the tracks ahead. We will update as more information becomes available.
— Amtrak Alerts (@AmtrakAlerts) February 25, 2023
@AmtrakAlerts
Norfolk Southern confirmed it was, in fact, one of their freights that had toppled over, telling FOX News … “There are no reports of a hazmat situation or danger to the public. Our crew is safe and additional personnel are on their way to begin cleanup. We appreciate the public’s patience and care near this area during the cleanup work.”
Still no word on what might’ve caused this, but it’s certainly not a good look for NS — which is still dealing with the fallout from another more serious derailment in East Palestine, OH.
Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg: ‘Norfolk Southern and the other freight rail companies need to stop fighting us every time we try to do a regulation … What we’ve seen is the industry goes to Washington, and they get their way’ pic.twitter.com/ILgd59wFm0
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 23, 2023
@nowthisnews
As you know, the EPA ordered Norfolk to cover the costs for all cleanup efforts in Ohio … and has vowed they’ll pay triple if they cut corners and don’t do the job right the first time.
Meanwhile, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg went down to East Palestine Thursday for the first time — blasting Norfolk Southern for pushing back on safety regulations that could’ve possibly avoided this in the first place. He and the Biden administration continue to face criticism for the seemingly slow response to the ongoing environmental disaster unfolding.
Locally, the Ohio Gov. has tried downplaying the dangers that locals are complaining about — namely, apparent health issues and animals/wildlife turning up dead — by drinking water in the area in an effort to assure folks that everything’s a-okay there. Not everyone agrees …
