NTSB investigating deadly collision between train, stored rail cars

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has opened an investigation into a fatal collision between a Union Pacific Railroad train and rail cars stored on a siding near Imperial County, California.

The Sept. 8 accident resulted in the deaths of the train conductor and engineer, according to the NTSB's preliminary report.

NTSB investigators reported the train was traveling eastbound at about 28 mph on Mainline 2 when a UP dispatcher routed it into the west end of the signal-controlled siding (Bertram siding) on the Yuma subdivision. The train then collided with 92 empty intermodal rail cars that had been stored at the site since December 2021.

The two lead locomotives and one intermodal rail car of the UP train derailed, along with two of the empty stored intermodal rail cars. Damage to track and equipment was estimated by UP to be about $1.2 million. The train consisted of two lead locomotives, 122 loaded intermodal rail cars and two locomotives on the rear end.

NTSB's investigation is ongoing and will focus on UP dispatcher operating procedures; rules and procedures regarding the long-term storage of rail cars; and UP’s signal and train control system, according to the report.

Parties to the investigation include UP; the Federal Railroad Administration; the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen; and the California Public Utilities Commission.