(The Oakland Tribune posted the following story by Rob Dennis on its website on September 10.)
NEWARK, Calif. — Altamont Commuter Express and Capitol Corridor service was suspended Tuesday afternoon, and three streets were closed into the evening, after two cars of an empty Union Pacific freight train derailed.
ACE train No. 02 was delayed at Newark for about 21/2 hours on its trip from San Jose to Stockton because of the derailment, according to Jon Garzoli, director of administrative services for the ACE trains in Stockton.
Two later trains — No. 04 and No. 06 — were canceled before they left San Jose and replaced by a bus bridge furnished by Wheels, Amtrak, VTA and Serendipity, Garzoli said.
“Everyone’s taken care of. Everyone’s been picked up and is on their way home,” he said at 6:45 p.m., about three hours after the derailment.
Capitol Corridor service also was suspended, with passengers bused to their destinations, ACE transportation coordinator Ken Meeker said.
Today’s commute will not be affected, Meeker said.
No one was injured in the derailment, Newark Fire Department spokeswoman Carrie Gibbany said.
“The good thing is, the train cars were empty,” she said.
The derailment, which happened at 3:39 p.m., also forced the closure of Cedar Boulevard as well as Cherry and Sycamore streets at the railroad tracks, Gibbany said.
Cedar and Cherry were reopened to traffic about two hours later, but Sycamore remained closed into the evening.
The train was traveling from San Jose to Roseville when the two cars left the rails at Baine Avenue and Olive Street, said John Bromley, regional director of public affairs for the Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the tracks.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, Bromley said.
Jason Byram, 16, was walking home alongside the railroad tracks with his brother when the derailment happened in front of them.
“All of a sudden I heard this bang, and I didn’t know what it was,” he said.
Byram spoke with police who were arriving on the scene, and found out that the train was empty and no one was hurt.
“I was really relieved to hear that,” he said. “I was really shocked that something that major would happen over here on my street.”