Railroad operator Norfolk Southern says outage impact to last for weeks

[Eugene]

Earlier DU thread: Nationwide Train Delays Reported After Norfolk Southern Hardware Failure

______________________________________________________________________

Source: Reuters

Railroad operator Norfolk Southern says outage impact to last for weeks

Reuters
August 28, 2023 11:14 PM EDT Updated 11 hours ago

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) said it has restored all rail systems after the U.S. railroad operator experienced a hardware-related outage that affected its operations earlier on Monday.

All systems were restored at 0700 pm ET (11 pm GMT), the company said, adding that it expects the impact on its operations to last at least a couple of weeks.

There is no indication that the outage was a cybersecurity incident, Norfolk said, without disclosing further details.

The company said it has been in touch with its customers to work on updated timings for their shipments.

The U.S. Transportation Department's Federal Railroad Administration disclosed earlier this month that it is considering enforcement actions against Norfolk Southern, which has been under heavy fire after one of its freight trains carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spewing toxins into the air and water.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/railroad-operator-norfolk-southern-says-outage-impact-last-weeks-2023-08-29/

Non-paywalled link: https://news.yahoo.com/railroad-operator-norfolk-southern-says-031431830.html

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Norfolk Southern Snarled by Positive Train Control Outage

Norfolk Southern Snarled by Positive Train Control Outage

Updated: 7:20 p.m. EST

By Justin Franz

Norfolk Southern is trying to get trains up and running again after an hours-long service disruption resulting from a Positive Train Control outage.

The outage resulted in NS and Amtrak trains being unable to move because they could not connect to the PTC network. A spokesperson for NS told Railfan & Railroad that the issues were being resolved late Monday afternoon.

“Earlier today, Norfolk Southern experienced a technology hardware outage that impacted some operations. At this time, we have no indication that this was a cybersecurity incident. We are resolving the outage and trains that are on our lines resumed movement this afternoon,” wrote spokesperson Conner Spielmaker in a brief statement to R&R.

However, it appeared the issues were continuing late into the evening. For example, Amtrak announced it would be canceling Northeast Regional 66 due to “ongoing host railroad server issues.” Other trains were still set to run but with significant delays.

This isn’t the first time a PTC outage has had a major impact on railroad operations this year. In March, Amtrak was forced to cancel trains for multiple days in a row because of an outage.

This article was posted on: August 28, 2023