About 5:03 a.m., central daylight time, on Monday, June 28, 2004, a westbound Union Pacific Railroad (UP) freight train traveling on the same main line track as an eastbound BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) freight train struck the midpoint of the 123-car BNSF train as the eastbound train was leaving the main line to enter a parallel siding. The accident occurred at the west end of the rail siding at Macdona, Texas, on the UP's San Antonio Service Unit. The collision derailed the 4 locomotive units and the first 19 cars of the UP train as well as 17 cars of the BNSF train. As a result of the derailment and pileup of railcars, the 16th car of the UP train, a pressure tank car loaded with liquefied chlorine, was punctured. Chlorine escaping from the punctured car immediately vaporized into a cloud of chlorine gas that engulfed the accident area to a radius of at least 700 feet before drifting away from the site. Three persons, including the conductor of the UP train and two local residents, died as a result of chlorine gas inhalation. The UP train engineer, 23 civilians, and 6 emergency responders were treated for respiratory distress or other injuries related to the collision and derailment. Damages to rolling stock, track, and signal equipment were estimated at $5.7 million, with environmental cleanup costs estimated at $150,000. The safety issues discussed in this report are train crew fatigue and the vulnerability, under current operating practices, of railroad tank cars carrying hazardous materials. As a result of its investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board makes safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration, the Union Pacific Railroad, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and the United Transportation Union. In addition, the Safety Board reiterates six safety recommendations previously issued to the Federal Railroad Administration.


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    Titel :

    National Transportation Safety Board Railroad Accident Report: Collision of Union Pacific Railroad Train MHOTU-23 With BNSF Railway Company Train MEAP-TUL-126-D With Subsequent Derailment and Hazardous Materials Release in Macdona, Texas, on June 28, 2004


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2006


    Format / Umfang :

    74 pages


    Medientyp :

    Report


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch