LINCOLN, Neb. — Two train cars derailed Thursday when a remote-controlled locomotive stopped too late and hit an empty outbound cargo train leaving Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s west Lincoln rail-switching yard, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg said the minor crash was caused by operator error. A Lincoln spokesman for the engineers’ union, which has raised safety concerns about remote-controlled locomotives, said the crash could have been prevented.
“In my opinion, had there been an experienced locomotive engineer operating the switch engine, in all likelihood, the incident would not have occurred,” said Roy Helm of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
The low-speed collision occurred around 10:30 a.m., in a rail-switching yard west of downtown Lincoln, nestled south of West O Street between the U.S. 77 overpass and Southwest 40th Street, officials and Helm explained.
Access to the crash site was restricted. The wreck occurred on private property, and city rescue workers were not requested.
Forsberg said such collisions routinely happen with engineers in the cab. In this case, a remote operator chose to move the switch engine closer to a receiving track, thinking he could beat the local train or stop before it departed.
The crash did a few thousand dollars in damage to the switch locomotive and a few thousand dollars to the empty cargo cars, officials said.
Helm said BNSF was lucky the cars were empty. A similar wreck involving a hazardous materials car could’ve meant environmental damage that might have been avoided if the locomotive had been steered by an engineer.
Forsberg disagreed: “The technology did work. It was operator error.”
The debate centers on industry use of remote-controlled locomotives in yard work and operation of them by train crew members instead of federally certified engineers, who train six months vs. 80 hours for remotes, Helm said.
Union officials have argued the growth in remote locomotive use could lead to job cuts. Railroad company officials have called the fears unfounded, arguing that the engineer layoffs haven’t happened.
Said Helm: “The people operating are … in my opinion not as qualified to be in control of these movements. Normally when we have movements approaching another train, we are more cautious.”
A spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration told the Journal Star earlier this month that there have been no incidents directly attributed to remote-controlled locomotives.