Two crew members involved in the March 18th derailment in Kentucky are now being sued by Norfolk Southern Railway.
The railroad is claiming that the engineer, Kevin Tobergte, and conductor, Andrew Hall, failed to reduce the speed of the train and prevent the collision, derailment, and subsequent fire that sent four people to the hospital. The accident destroyed two locomotives and derailed thirteen rail cars.
According to the lawsuit, Norfolk Southern believes the crew members are liable for the the damage to the locomotives, rail cars, tracks, right of way communication and signal equipment, expenses related to getting the derailed cars back on the track, transporting the locomotives for repair, loss of use for the locomotives and rail cars that need repairs, and cleaning the spilled diesel fuel from the soil and groundwater near the accident site.
The suit claims the crew “failed to pay attention to their duties, failed to properly control the movement and speed reduction, and failed to announce to a dispatcher that they had applied an emergency brake so the other trains in the vicinity could be notified of the event”.
In addition to compensation for the railway company, the suit also seeks the awarding of an indemnity as may be payable to adjacent landowners or railway customers.
Railroad blames its crew for Kentucky train crash. And sues them.
