By Bob Bauder, Staff Writer, Tribune-Review; September 6, 2019
An inspector for a Kansas-based company committed “serious oversights” in Pittsburgh last year by failing to recognize a broken rail about three weeks before it caused a major derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight near Station Square, according to a federal report.
The 11-page report released Thursday by the Federal Railroad Administration blames the broken rail for the Aug. 5, 2018 derailment. It says a track inspector for Sperry Rail Services should have recognized the problem during ultrasound testing on July 20.