HAYWARD, Calif. — Amtrak’s Pacific Coast Starlight struck a 160-pound steel drawbar on the tracks Wednesday night before it derailed, according to Union Pacific Railroad spokesman John Bromley, reports the Oakland Tribune.
The 40-inch-long bar, which joins rail cars to couplers, apparently was dropped by a freight train using the same track earlier, Bromley said. How the drawbar was dropped and why it went unnoticed is being investigated, he added.
“Who didn’t do what, and why, is what we’re trying to clarify,” said Bromley. “On the inside we know what happened, and we’re trying to follow up with the appropriate action.”
He refused to disclose details concerning the incident.
Bromley said the Starlight was traveling at 65 miles per hour, 14 miles under the allowed speed limit, when it struck the drawbar.
An 80-year-old male passenger injured in the accident was reported in stable condition at St. Rose Hospital on Friday afternoon. He was the only person hospitalized as a result of the derailment.
Union Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney said the track where the derailment occurred was repaired and reopened at about 7 p.m. Thursday.
“Things should be getting back to normal,” he said.
Union Pacific owns most of the tracks that Amtrak runs trains on in California, including all those used by the passenger trains in the East Bay area.
Amtrak bused some passengers from the derailed train to Sacramento early Thursday, where they were put on another train. Bay Area-bound passengers were bused to stations in Oakland, Emeryville and San Francisco.
The Starlight, which runs from Los Angeles to Seattle, was carrying 287 passengers and 21 crew members at the time of the derailment at 10:10 p.m. Wednesday. Amtrak spokeswoman Liz O’Donoghue said five of the 12 passenger cars and one of the three engines derailed. All remained upright.
Seven passengers were reportedly injured in the accident. Four were treated at the scene. Three were taken to nearby St. Rose Hospital, where two were treated and released.