(The following article by Ana Radelat was posted on the Jackson Clarion-Ledger website on July 27.)
WASHINGTON — Poor track maintenance caused last year’s fatal Amtrak derailment near Flora, Miss., a National Transportation Safety Board report released Tuesday concludes.
“Unfortunately, a passenger on that train is not here today because of that sloppiness,” said NTSB acting chairman Mark Rosenker.
The derailment of the City of New Orleans killed Mississippi native Clara Downs, 68, of Chicago and injured 46 other passengers, three of them severely.
The track, owned by CN — formerly Canadian National — had been repaired in January 2004. But, because cold weather had shrunk the track, a replacement piece that was 13 feet, 2 inches was about 2 inches longer than the track it replaced. When the replacement “plug” expanded in the heat on the day of the derailment, April 6, 2004, the track buckled, the NTSB concluded.
Melvin Bolden and his wife, Doris, both of Vicksburg, were among at least a dozen passengers who recently settled lawsuits against Amtrak and CN for injuries and emotional stress.
“I don’t agree with it. They’re going to do what they want to do,” Melvin Bolden said of the NTSB report. “Look at all the derailments they had on the same stretch of track. They didn’t do nothing. Nobody is going to stand up toe-to-toe with those folks.”
Other derailments in the location include a train carrying hazardous chemicals in 1997. About 4,000 Flora-area residents were evacuated. Three other freight trains derailed on the tracks within a five-mile stretch in 1986 and twice in 1994.
Many of the plaintiffs from the 2004 Amtrak derailment were seeking more than $300,000 in damages and agreed to consolidate and dismiss their claims in exchange for a settlement reached July 15.
Paul Hedlund of Los Angeles, the attorney for the Downs’ family, which was among those who settled, said he could not discuss the settlement.
“The railroads were quick to admit liability,” Hedlund said referring to Amtrak and CN. “The judge was not inclined to think this was a particularly drawn out case, but one of ordinary negligence.”
Trial had been set for July 18. U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt in New Orleans refused to delay the trial until after the NTSB hearing, Hedlund said.
Mark Lapapa of New Orleans is one of the few plaintiffs who had a jury trial. Jurors ruled last week in Lapapa’s favor and awarded $5,577. However, his attorney has asked the court to increase the award, citing an error by jurors.
The train was traveling at 78 mph when it derailed. The first, second and third passenger cars behind the baggage car fell onto their sides over a 20-foot-high railroad trestle.
At some point before the accident, the NTSB said, 10 wooden crossties had been installed to replace steel ties near the derailment site. NTSB inspectors said there may not have been enough wooden ties to keep the track in place, and the ties may have been “used,” or taken from other tracks.
NTSB investigators also told the agency’s board members there might not have been enough anchors securing the track.
“The inadequately restrained east rail lifted out of the tie plates because of expansion caused by warm temperatures, resulting in the rail shifting and the gauge widening, causing the wheels of the train to drop between the tracks,” the report adopted by the NTSB board stated.
The board determined the probable cause of the derailment was the “failure of the Canadian National Railway Company to properly maintain and inspect its track, resulting in a rail shift and the subsequent derailment of the train.”
“Had the employees who maintained the track at the accident site followed the written procedures, the rails shift condition likely would not have occurred,” the NTSB concluded.
CN spokesman Ian Thomson said the company had spent $15.3 million last year maintaining and fixing all problems with the track in the derailment area. “We’ve invested very heavily in that portion of the infrastructure,” Thomson said.
Thomson also said that track maintenance “is a key focus area for CN” and that the company in 2003 inaugurated a training program to educate its employees.
The training program “was just getting kicked out” when the accident occurred, Thomson said.
The Federal Railroad Administration had inspected the track blamed for the derailment in June 2003 and February 2004. During those inspections, the federal inspectors found at least 24 deficiencies on the track, but they did not write an official report about them. That would have required CN to fix the problems.
The NTSB said the Federal Railroad Administration’s “ineffective oversight” also was to blame for the derailment.
Amtrak was found in no way to be responsible for the derailment.
“The equipment of Amtrak worked perfectly and the operation of the crew worked perfectly,” Rosenker said.
But the federal investigation into the derailment found one of the 12 Amtrak employees on the train had not had any safety training and two others did not have a refresher course given by Amtrak every two years.