NTSB issues preliminary report on Amtrak train derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a preliminary report on the Sept. 25 derailment of an Amtrak train in Montana that resulted in three passenger fatalities.

The Amtrak Empire Builder train was carrying 154 people when it derailed at 3:47 local time in a right-hand curve on the BNSF Railway Co. Hi Line Subdivision near Joplin. As a result of the derailment, three passengers died and 44 passengers and crew with injuries were transported to hospitals.

Amtrak estimated the damage to be over $22 million, according to the NTSB report.

The train consisted of two locomotives and 10 rail cars. Eight of the 10 cars derailed with four derailing on their sides.

Train movements on the line are coordinated by a BNSF train dispatcher. The maximum allowable speed on the section of track is 79 mph for passenger trains. A positive train control (PTC) system was enabled and operating at the time of the derailment.

Preliminary data from the leading locomotive’s event recorder showed that the Amtrak train was traveling between 75 and 78 mph when its emergency brakes were activated. The locomotives and the first two rail cars remained on the rail. The weather on that day was clear with no precipitation at the time of the accident.

NTSB investigators conducted track and equipment inspections, reviewed signal and train control data logs, obtained data from the lead locomotive’s forward-facing image recorder and event recorder and conducted interviews.

The agency’s investigation is ongoing, with future activity focused on track and engineering, equipment, survival factors and passenger rail-car crashworthiness, the report stated.

Parties to the investigation include the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, BNSF, the Brotherhood of Maintenance-of-Way Employees Division, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.