MA:Investigation Into Train Collision Begins - 150 People Treated At Scene, 80 taken to hospital

[Breeze54]

Investigation Into Train Collision Begins

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/15709027/detail.html

150 People Treated At Scene

UPDATED: 6:23 am EDT March 26, 2008

CANTON, Mass. --

Dozens of people suffered non-life threatening injuries after a freight train car rolled
from a side track onto the main line and struck a stationary commuter train Tuesday afternoon.

Lt. John Hutchinson of the Canton Fire Department, said about 150 people were treated at the scene
and about 80 of those were taken to hospitals. None of the injuries were life-threatening, he said.
Most were minor.

Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said about 300
passengers were on the Stoughton-bound train.



Pesaturo said the CSX freight car, loaded with lumber, rolled about two miles from where it had
been parked at a lumber yard on the siding. It traveled onto the Stoughton commuter rail branch line,
then onto the main line where it struck the passenger train's locomotive near Canton Junction just before 5:30 p.m. (2 MILES out of control!!)

Pesaturo said the engineer, who was among those injured, was alerted by a track signal that
something was on the line and was able to stop the commuter train before the crash.

He said authorities are investigating how the freight car came loose.

Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail, which operates the service
for the MBTA, said the train was Number 917, which left Boston's South Station at about 4:40 p.m.

CSX spokesman Gary Sease said the flat car had been placed at a customer's location earlier in the day.
He said the company is cooperating in the investigation. :eyes:

"Our first concerns are the safety of the passengers and train crew," Sease said.

More.....

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Probe Uncovers 3,500 Safety Violations on CSX Railroad Properties

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/03/29/78214.htm

By Alan Zibel

March 29, 2007

Federal railroad officials said this week that an investigation found more than 3,500 problems with CSX Corp. railroad properties in 23 states, a probe started in response to a series of accidents involving the company's trains.

The Federal Railroad Administration's inspection, conducted over four days in January after a derailment on Jan 16 in East Rochester, N.Y., recommended that CSX be fined for 199 violations, including failure to replace defective rails, failure to make repairs and improper handling of hazardous materials.

Joseph Boardman, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, said in a prepared statement that CSX "is still not doing enough to make safety a top priority.''

more...

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Someone didn't set the car's brakes, AND

Someone didn't set the freight car's brakes (Freight cars have mechanical as well as air brakes), or some @##hole undid them. Another question: if the car was spotted on a siding, how did it get onto one of the mainline tracks? Did a freight crewman forget to re-align the swtich, or did some vandal open the switch after undoing the freigh car's brakes?

If it was a vandal, I hope the authorities throw the book at him or her!

[Breeze54]

2. CSX has a bad reputation but here's the first report right after it happened and

It moved down the side track into or near the Canton line/station.

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Train, Freight Car Collision Injures Dozens

Some Minor Injuries Reported

POSTED: 5:33 pm EDT March 25, 2008

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/mostpopular/15705462/detail.html

snip-->

NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that the engineer of the MBTA's No. 917 train on the
Providence/Stoughton line saw a boxcar rolling on the tracks toward them, stopped the train
and ran into the first passenger car shouting to people to brace themselves for the collision.

Approximately 50 passengers and crew received minor injuries, and about 10 people were taken
to area hospitals, a spokesman for the MBTA said. About 100 passengers were on board the train
at the time of the crash. The train left Boston's South Station at 4:40 p.m.

It is unclear if the CSX freight car was parked on the tracks, or how it ended up rolling onto
the same track on which the southbound commuter train was traveling. The rail line is maintained
and controlled by Amtrak.

The MBTA suspended the Providence/Stoughton rail service after the crash, and passengers were
bused between stations.

The freight car was filled with lumber.