(The following story by Gordon Dickson and Bill Miller appeared on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram website on August 31, 2010.)
FORT WORTH, Teas — Some Trinity Railway Express passengers can expect at least modest delays in their morning commute until early Wednesday after a freight train derailment Sunday night near downtown Fort Worth.
No one was hurt when seven cars in a BNSF Railway train hauling coal jumped the track just north of Spur 280 and east of downtown at about 8:20 p.m. Sunday. Fort Worth-based BNSF, which owns the cars involved, expects that all repairs will made by this afternoon.
But even as crews removed the wreckage Monday that prevented the TRE from reaching two busy train stations — the T&P Station and the Intermodal Transportation Center — officials said the disruption in service is expected to continue until Wednesday.
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also known as the “T,” will use what officials call “bus bridges” to ferry passengers from those stations to the Richland Hills station, the nearest TRE platform not affected by the derailment.
Passengers being shuttled Monday were delayed about five to 10 minutes during the rush hours, said Joan Hunter, a spokeswoman for the authority. It could be Wednesday before trains are running normally again, she said.
“We’ll assess it tomorrow,” Hunter said on Monday.
Carl Hall of Dallas, who rides the train about twice a week, said he and other passengers took Monday’s inconvenience in stride.
“I like how TRE steps in when a problem happens, and that’s a good thing,” Hall said. “Plus, nobody got hurt last night or this morning, so that’s a blessing.”
Busy stations
The two downtown Fort Worth train stations collectively account for about 18 percent of all TRE riders, agency figures show.
An average of 566 people per day board the TRE at T&P Station, which is adjacent to a large park-and-ride lot where commuter rail riders can park for free. An average of 832 people per day board at the Intermodal Transportation Center, which is a popular transfer point for T bus riders to catch a train.
The bus bridges set up by the T seemed to be working as planned on Monday.
At 11:30 a.m. Monday, passengers could be seen stepping off the westbound train that stopped at the Richland Hills station. It took only a few minutes for riders to get on the buses, which quickly pulled away, destined for downtown Fort Worth.
Lorenzo Chess, a T supervisor, directed passengers onto the buses to continue their journeys.
“We try to keep the transition smooth,” he said.
Wreckage cleared
On Sunday, a 120-car freight train hauling coal derailed on track that is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The two railroads have longstanding agreements to share tracks throughout their systems.
The site is a short distance west of where the track passes beneath Interstate 35W.
The cause of the derailment was still under investigation Monday afternoon. Neither the conductor nor the engineer on the train was hurt, said BNSF spokesman Joe Faust.
“Three [cars] actually overturned,” he said. “Four derailed upright and three derailed on their sides.” The three cars that overturned spilled coal onto the tracks, he said.
Faust also noted that the speed limit on that section is 10 mph, but BNSF officials say the train was moving at 8 mph. The wreckage was cleared by Monday morning, but extensive repairs were needed to the tracks and a bridge, said Raquel Espinoza, a Union Pacific spokeswoman.
“Anytime we have something like this happen, we have to make the necessary repairs and tests to make sure all the equipment is working properly,” Espinoza said.
She also said UP officials hoped to have the work completed this afternoon, but that it could be Wednesday before rail traffic resumes on the line.