(The following article by Danie Harrelson was posted on the Grand Junction Sentinel website on January 20.)
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Amtrak service via Denver will resume at the end of the month after last week’s train derailment in Ruby Canyon near the Utah state line.
The California Zephyr, en route from Chicago to suburban Oakland, Calif., with more than 100 people on board, derailed Jan. 11 after it struck a 12-by-12-foot boulder just west of Grand Junction. Six people were injured.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said Amtrak would resume normal service by Jan. 29.
Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the tracks, routed freight trains through the side track after the accident.
Magliari said Amtrak is “working diligently” with Union Pacific Railroad to restore Amtrak’s California Zephyr service.
The train was moved to the Grand Junction rail yard before being transferred to a maintenance facility near Indianapolis last week.