NTSB reports initial findings in fatal train-truck collision case

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a preliminary report for its ongoing investigation into the Dec. 18, 2024, fatal accident that involved the derailment of a Union Pacific Railroad train after it collided with a highway vehicle at a grade crossing in Pecos, Texas. The train's conductor and engineer were killed.

The train struck a truck-tractor vehicle, operated by Boss Heavy Haul LLC and carrying an oversized load, as it was crossing the tracks. As a result of the collision, the four head-end locomotives and the first 11 rail cars derailed, releasing about 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the ground, the NTSB reported. 

The collision displaced the truck’s load, which struck a municipal building. The train consisted of the four locomotives and 47 intermodal rail cars; the consist included seven intermodal shipping containers carrying hazardous materials. Those containers did not breach or release hazardous materials.

The combination vehicle entered the crossing about a minute before the collision. The crossing's warning equipment — flashing lights, crossbucks, gates and bells — activated and signaled the train's approach while vehicle was blocking the tracks. Investigators' preliminary review of event recorder data from the third locomotive showed that the train crew initiated an emergency braking application shortly before the collision, and the train slowed from about 68 mph to about 64 mph before striking the truck. The maximum authorized speed in the area for railroad traffic was 70 mph.

NTSB investigators' work is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on site modeling, accident data analysis, highway railroad grade crossing safety, locomotive cab survivability and crashworthiness and carrier requirements for traversing grade crossings while transporting oversize loads.

The preliminary report can be read here.