NEW BUFFALO, Mich. — A technical issue at a 911 dispatching center and misidentification of the grade crossing played a part in the collision and derailment involving an Amtrak train in New Buffalo on Thursday, Nov. 16, according to the head of the dispatching center in Berrien County, Mich.
The incident occurred at about 10 p.m. when westbound Wolverine train No. 355 struck a tow truck and the vehicle it was attempting to remove from the grade crossing. Six people were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and Amtrak service was not fully restored on the route until Sunday, Nov. 19 [see “Amtrak train derails in Michigan …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 17, 2023].
Questions had been raised why Amtrak had not been notified to prevent the collision when there was enough time to summon a tow truck to the scene. In a press release today (Monday, Nov. 20), Caitlin Sampsell, Berrien County 911 director, said the county’s Public Safety Communication Center/911 Dispatch was experiencing technical issues with its computer-aided dispatch system “that left us unable to enter intersection cross streets, which are critical to our ability to pinpoint locations.”
The dispatch center received two 911 calls at 9:21 p.m. alerting it to a stranded vehicle on the railroad tracks. Because of the computer issue, use of a nearby business to determine the location “resulted in the identification of an incorrect train crossing,” Sampsell said in a press release. “We then immediately notified CSX, the primary operating railroad of the tracks at that crossing location.”
CSX spokesman Bryan Tucker told WSBT-TV that CSX was notified twice about the grade-crossing problem, once 30 minutes before the derailment and a second time just minutes before the collision and derailment. That second call included “new information and a different crossing, which allowed us to realize that the crossing was not on the scene of a CSX rail line,” Tucker told the station. “In fact, it was on an Amtrak rail line … which we do not control and unfortunately it was too late.”
While the crossing when the accident occurred had a blue sign with Amtrak contact information, law enforcement and the towing company on the scene apparently relied on the dispatch center to make the proper notification, and Amtrak was not notified before the train arrived and struck the vehicles at the crossing.
The county’s press release says the dispatch center has taken initial steps to modify its protocols including changes to protocols related to computer and software updates, communications with railroads, and the railroad crossing resource guide.
— Updated at 8:55 a.m. CST with CSX comments from WSBT report.
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