Broken rail caused Colorado train derailment that collapsed bridge, preliminary findings show
Federal authorities say a broken rail caused a train derailment that collapsed a bridge over a Colorado highway
A broken rail caused a train derailment that collapsed a bridge over an interstate highway in Colorado, killing a truck driver and blocking the road for days, federal authorities said Tuesday, based on their preliminary investigation.
Officials will investigate how the rail broke and why warning systems did not alert crews to the condition of the track, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a news release.
The steel bridge built in 1958 collapsed Sunday when 30 cars from a BNSF train hauling coal derailed while crossing over Interstate 25 north of Pueblo.
The 60-year-old driver of a semitrailer truck that was passing beneath the bridge was killed. I-25, the main north-south route through Colorado, is expected to remain closed for several more days as crews clear away piles of coal and other debris.
Broken rails and other track problems are a leading cause of derailments, according to federal accident data.
The NTSB has previously recommended that railroads install more automatic monitoring systems that can detect problems with tracks early on and prevent accidents. The agency repeated its call for those systems in July in response to a fatal Amtrak derailment along BNSF-owned tracks in northern Montana two years ago.
It was not immediately known whether the track where Sunday's derailment occurred had such a system. NTSB spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick said that was under investigation.
Representatives of BNSF did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
There is no reason believe the derailment was sabotage, Sulick said.
“They will be pulling maintenance records. They’ll be interviewing
Read more on abcnews.go.com
