Norfolk Southern investing in more automated inspection systems on its railroad to improve safety

abcnews.go.com:

Norfolk Southern has installed the first of what will be more than a dozen of a new generation of automated inspection portals on its tracks in Ohio — not far from where one of its trains derailed in February and spilled hazardous chemicals that caught...

OMAHA, Neb. — To help quickly spot safety defects on moving trains, Norfolk Southern said Thursday it has installed the first of more than a dozen of a new generation of automated inspection portals on its tracks in Ohio — not far from where one of its trains careened off the tracks in February and spilled hazardous chemicals that caught fire.

The new portals, equipped with high-speed cameras, will take hundreds of pictures of every passing locomotive and rail car. The pictures are analyzed by artificial intelligence software the railroad developed. Unlike previous versions, these new inspection portals will be able to capture all sides of a train that passes through them with well-lit images.

The first of these new portals was recently installed on busy tracks in Leetonia, Ohio, less than 15 miles (24 kilometers) from where that train derailed in East Palestine in February.

Norfolk Southern and the other major railroads have invested in similar inspection technology for years as they look for ways to supplement — and sometimes try to replace where regulators allow it — the human inspections that the industry has long relied on to keep its trains safe. Rail unions have argued that the new technology shouldn't replace inspections by well-trained carmen.

University of Delaware professor Allan Zarembski, who leads the Railroad Engineering and Safety Program there, said it's significant that Norfolk Southern is investing in so many of the portals. By contrast, CSX just