(The following story by Jacqueline Lee appeared on the News-Democrat website on June 1, 2010.)
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Rail owners have replaced and opened the 500 feet of track where an Amtrak train derailed Sunday and injured five passengers.
An investigation into the cause of the derailment is ongoing, said Mark Davis, a spokesman for Union Pacific, which jointly owns the tracks with Kansas City Southern railroad company.
Davis said investigators look into four causes of derailments — human; train track; mechanical, which includes the engine and railcars; and other, which includes weather.
“Unless there is something really obvious, which in this case there wasn’t, they continue to look over data and things of that nature,” Davis said. “It’s really important to find a cause because that helps us reduce derailments.”
The St. Louis-to-Chicago passenger train derailed at 6 p.m. Sunday in Granite City, about a quarter-mile south of Niedringhaus Avenue and 16th Street. Two engines pulled five cars: One was slightly tilted and the final car was at a 45 degree angle.
The train was going between 30 to 60 miles per hour when it derailed, Magliari said.
Passengers were off the train by 7:55 p.m. Sunday and either continued to Chicago on charter buses or returned to St. Louis.
The two engines and five cars were back on the rail at 2:10 a.m. Monday, Davis said.
Crews replaced the track damaged by the derailment and opened the line at 11:30 a.m., Davis said.
There were 63 passengers and four crew members on board.
Four had minor injuries and were taken to nearby Gateway Regional Medical Center and one of them independently went to the hospital, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.
None of them stayed overnight at the hospital, Magliari said.
The derailment did not interrupt Amtrak service because a second track was available at that location, Magliari said.