HAYWARD — Union Pacific Railroad and federal officials say they still haven’t determined why a steel bar was on the tracks on Aug. 21, when an Amtrak train hit it and derailed, the Alameda Times-Star reported.
Union Pacific and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating how the drawbar, used to couple train cars, ended up on the tracks near Baumberg Avenue, and who is responsible for it being left there.
Union Pacific owns and maintains the tracks.
“Ordinarily, anything involving changing a drawbar would be done in a (railroad) yard, unless there was an emergency,” Union Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney said.
One possibility is that someone who was working in the area left the drawbar behind, Furtney said. If a Union Pacific employee is responsible, he or she could be punished or fired, Furtney added.
It would be extremely difficult to move a train without the drawbar, he added.
“The investigation is very much ongoing,” said railroad administration spokesman Warren Flatau. “I don’t anticipate that we will receive a report (on the cause of the derailment) for at least another month.”
One engine and five cars of the northbound Pacific Coast Starlight, headed from Los Angeles for Seattle, derailed at 10:10 p.m., an Amtrak press release stated. All remained upright. The train had 12 passenger cars and three engines.
The train was going 65 miles per hour, 14 miles under the allowed speed limit, when it struck the drawbar, said Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley.
Seven of the 308 people aboard suffered minor injuries, Amtrak officials said. Three people were taken to St. Rose Hospital, and one was admitted. Another four passengers were treated at the scene.
The passenger who was admitted to St. Rose spent six days there, said hospital spokeswoman Pam Russo.
The other passengers were bused to stations in Emeryville, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said.