On March 6, 2023, a picture was posted to Reddit claiming to show another Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio, roughly a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. We found the photographic authentic.
The Reddit post was captioned, "A second Norfolk Southern Train derails in Ohio, just a month after the East Palestine derailment." The post had nearly 100,000 points at the time of publication, making it one of the most popular posts that day.
The Norfolk Southern train derailed near Springfield, Ohio on March 4, with 28 cars jumping the tracks. No one was injured. The train was not carrying toxic materials.
We found an identical photo on MediaPunch, taken the day before the picture was posted on Reddit. We've used the website before to help authenticate viral photographs. On MediaPunch, the photo is captioned as follows:
SPRINGFIELD, OH - MARCH 5: Aerial view of a Norfolk Southern Train Derailment leaving 20 cars jumping the tracks on the previous day In Springfield, Ohio. March 5, 2023. Credit: mpi34/MediaPunch
The Springfield derailment came after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3. The toxic chemicals in that incident had to be released using a controlled burn, which led many people to worry about the health and ecological effects of the crash.
More major train derailments around the U.S. after the March 4 crash. In Cleveland, a Norfolk Southern train collided with a truck on March 7. That crash killed one person, who was an employee of the company.
Local broadcast station Fox 8 found that since October 2022, five Norfolk Southern trains have derailed in Ohio. According to PolitiFact, more than 1,000 train accidents happen every year in the U.S.