WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration issued a safety advisory this week in the aftermath of an April collision and derailment on Union Pacific that involved a misaligned hand-throw switch.
The FRA continues to investigate the April 16 collision in Texas that occurred in dark territory with no positive train control overlay. The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on the wreck this week.
“A train operating at speed encountered a switch improperly lined into a yard track, which was occupied by a stationary train,” the May 9 FRA bulletin says. “The incident resulted in the derailment of three locomotives and twelve grain cars, with both members of the crew sustaining serious injuries.”
The FRA safety bulletin emphasizes the importance of the safe operation of hand-operated main track switches by:
- Conducting proper training, periodic oversight, and compliance with rules covering hand-thrown mainline switches.
- Ensuring that switches are visually verified to be properly lined.
- Ensuring clear and concise verbal communication among all crewmembers to confirm switch position before leaving the location where a hand-thrown switch was used.
- Releasing limits of main track authority in dark territory only after reporting to the train dispatcher that all hand-operated main track switches have been restored and locked in normal positions.
- Use multiple methods or tools to validate that safety critical tasks are complete.
The bulletin is available online.
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