Not enough information to determine what caused the bearing to fail, bearing failures account for 5.9% of all train derailments[1].
Though we can look at common train bearing failures to get a likelihood...
Most likely it was a simple lack of maintenance. It's possible to prevent this with more sensors[2] and tighter maintenance checks.
[1] https://www.wisnerbaum.com/blog/2016/september/the-most-comm...
[2] https://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/research/projects/...
My point though is the "bearing failing" is too generic to determine what on it failed.
Sometimes the brakes are fixed to the axle, are they not? In that case it couldn't be the brake.
Think about pulling over as soon as you know you’ve taken a hit to a tire instead of continuing to drive until you’re on nothing but a rim and sparks.
First I've heard of this.
*Update - NTSB is saying it was bearing failure - https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20230214.as...
ctrl+f for 'axle' or 'brake' from the NTSB statement - zero results