(The Associated Press circulated the following on January 8.)
ONEIDA, N.Y. — An undetected broken rail jarred a CSX train from its tracks last March, triggering the explosion of four liquid propane tankers just outside this upstate New York city, according to a federal report issued Tuesday.
The Federal Railroad Administration concluded that the CSX crew was operating the 81-car train in full compliance with federal standards.
The report also said that CSX had inspected and tested the track as required.
The FRA found no violations connected to the accident.
CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan said the Florida-based company was satisfied with the report’s findings.
“We’re not going to try to characterize the report. We’re just focused on running a safe railroad,” Sullivan said.
The CSX freight train was traveling east from Buffalo to Albany when 29 cars jumped the tracks just outside Oneida, a city of about 10,000 located 20 miles east of Syracuse.
No one was injured, but plumes of toxic smoke prompted authorities to evacuate about 200 of the closest residents.
The fiery derailment also led authorities to briefly close a 23-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway and caused the temporary suspension of passenger train service between Albany and Syracuse. Damage was estimated at $2.08 million, the report said.
FRA inspectors found that the CSX train was traveling at 47 mph when the derailment occurred at around 7 a.m. The recommended speed for a mixed freight train in that area was 50 mph, the FRA said.
Crew members said they experienced a rough track, then reported hearing a loud “pop” from the track and saw sparks shooting from the back of the train, the report said.
Before the crew could respond, the train’s emergency brakes activated, and nearly 30 cars jumped the tracks. Nineteen of the derailed cars were carrying liquid propane gas, while three others contained toluene, butane and ferric chloride, the report said. Four of the liquid propane tankers were punctured and exploded.
The conductor, using his cell phone because the radio communications were disrupted, reported to a dispatcher that the train had derailed and was on fire, the report said.
It was determined that the rail was broken before the CSX train reached the spot. The broken rail was damaged on both ends, indicating there had been trains moving over it in both directions before the accident, the report said.
FRA investigators determined the rail had a transverse fissure, an internal defect that cracked the rail from the inside out, said FRA spokesman Steve Kulm.
Typically, an electronic signal is sent to the dispatcher to indicate a break in the track but because the broken rail was located on the switch plate, it did not allow for an interruption of the signal, the report found.
Two trains had passed over the broken rail earlier the same day, although heading in the opposite direction.
The first westbound train passed over that section of track just after 4 a.m., and experienced an emergency stop. The crew walked their train and found nothing wrong with the track. Instead, it appeared that the engineer’s seat in the train’s second locomotive had spun around and struck the brake handle, the report said.
A second westbound train went through at 5:36 a.m., but slowed to 15 mph because of the incident with the earlier train. The crew said they saw nothing out of the ordinary, the report said.
FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman announced last week that CSX had paid nearly $350,000 for federal rail safety violations uncovered during a 23-state inspection last year. Boardman said the Northeast’s largest railroad had made “significant strides” in short-term improvements after a systemwide FRA inspection in January 2007 found 3,518 safety defects, including 199 serious violations.