The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued its final report on the July 2025 Norfolk-Southern train derailment near the town of Browns in Edwards County in southeastern Illinois.
The report indicated that the incident occurred at 5:45 p.m. on July 18th along track in the railroad's Southern West Subdivision. 24 cars of an eastbound freight train derailed while passing over a spring switch. The derailed cars struck a westbound train that was stopped on an adjacent track.
Three tank cars carrying hazardous materials were breached, releasing molten sulfur and ethanol.
Two crew members aboard the stopped train were injured after jumping from a locomotive just before it was impacted by a derailed tank car.
Following the incident, Norfolk-Southern inspected all 205 of its mainline spring switches along its routes and revised its maintenance policies in regard to work performed on those switches.
Damage from the derailment was estimated at $9.2 million.
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