JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The federal agency investigating last month’s Amtrak derailment in Crescent City said yesterday it is studying three possible causes of the accident that killed four people, the Florida Times-Union reports.
The National Transportation Safety Board still is investigating braking issues, the Auto Train’s metal couplers that linked the train cars together, and “track maintenance policies and procedures, maintenance reporting processes, and management oversight” by track owners CSX Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration.
The board didn’t address comments attributed to lead investigator Russ Quimby that CSXT neglected to take a measure designed to prevent tracks from expanding and buckling in extreme heat.
The NTSB’s Quimby didn’t return a telephone call seeking comment yesterday.
CSXT spokesman Gary Sease said crews worked on the 1,300-foot stretch of track five times between October and March 12. But on only two of those occasions did rail temperature need to be adjusted based on company guidelines.
When sun heats rails, they expand and bow, which can cause derailments. Both times the crews adjusted the temperature, Sease said.
The Orlando Sentinel, citing the NTSB, reported yesterday the crews reinstalled the rails without first raising their temperature, essentially pre-stressing the steel so it won’t expand too much and buckle in high temperatures. The newspaper didn’t attribute the derailment to the temperature adjustment and said buckling isn’t inevitable.
Four people were killed and more than 150 were injured in the April 18 derailment. The 40-car train was going 56 mph in a 60 mph zone while traveling from Sanford to Lorton, Va. It carried 418 passengers, 34 crew members and 200 automobiles.
The NTSB said yesterday it still is gathering information about the track in the derailment area, and it’s conducting simulations of the train’s braking system at a facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Investigators are looking at the effect different braking systems may have had on Auto Train since the train is a unique combination of passenger and automobile-carrying railroad cars,” the board said in a news release.
“The accident train had 16 Amtrak SuperLiner passenger cars ahead of 24 autorack cars. Both types of cars are about the same loaded weight. The simulations will help assess whether re-arrangement of cars in the train could have an effect on the dynamics of the accident.”
The NTSB also is examining the broken couplers that are designed to keep railroad passenger cars upright and in line during a derailment. The board expects to find out what caused the couplers to break.
Post-accident alcohol and drug tests performed on the Amtrak operation train crew showed no alcohol or illegal drugs in any train crew members, including the engineer and conductor, the NTSB said.
The board expects to release the findings of its investigation in nine to 12 months.