(The Washington Post published the following article by Christian Davenport on June 13.)
WASHINGTON — Six CSX Corp. freight cars derailed yesterday morning near the border of Howard and Anne Arundel counties, delaying MARC commuters for most of the day and canceling two evening rush-hour trains.
Rail service between Washington and Baltimore should be back to normal this morning after the freight cars, which derailed in Jessup, are put back on the tracks, said Cathy Ginter, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transit Administration.
The derailment, which occurred about 10 a.m., temporarily closed one of two tracks on MARC’s Camden Line in Jessup. Crews were working to reopen the track last night. The Camden Line connects Union Station to Camden Yards in Baltimore and makes stops in Greenbelt, Laurel and Savage, among others.
Without the second track, Ginter said, MARC canceled Train 854, which was scheduled to depart Union Station for Baltimore at 6:40 p.m., and Train 857, which was scheduled to leave Camden Yards at 5:50 p.m. for Washington.
Those trains normally carry about 260 passengers combined, Ginter said. Trains that were running experienced delays of up to 30 minutes, she said.
“There’s a single track where it’s usually a double track, and trains are backed up waiting,” she said.
The CSX freight train, which had four locomotives and was 115 cars long, was passing through Maryland on its way from Philadelphia to Richmond when the cars derailed, CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said.
No one was injured in the derailment, which is under investigation, and officials were unsure what caused the freight cars to leave the tracks. Sullivan said that the derailed cars were standing upright and that no hazardous materials were on board. He said he did not know how fast the train was traveling. According to CSX spokeswoman Jane Covington, five of the derailed cars were empty and one was carrying paper.
Sullivan said crews planned to work through the night to clear the tracks by morning. Rail traffic on the Camden Line was expected to return to normal for this morning’s commute, Ginter said, but she warned that there could be slowdowns near the scene of the accident. Any significant problems will be posted on the MTA Web site, www.mtamaryland.com, under the “Emergency News & Service Status” link, she said.