About 9:47 p.m. on March 15, 1999, National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train 59, with 207 passengers and 21 Amtrak or other railroad employees on board and operating on Illinois Central Railroad (IC) main line tracks, struck and destroyed the loaded trailer of a tractor-semitrailer combination that was traversing the McKnight Road grade crossing in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Both locomotives and 11 of the 14 cars in the Amtrak consist derailed. The derailed Amtrak cars struck 2 of 10 freight cars that were standing on an adjacent siding. The accident resulted in 11 deaths and 122 people being transported to local hospitals. Total Amtrak equipment damages were estimated at $14 million, and damages to track and associated structures were estimated to be about $295,000. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the collision between Amtrak train 59 and a truck tractor-semitrailer combination vehicle at the McKnight Road grade crossing in Bourbonnais, Illinois, was the truckdriver's inappropriate response to the grade crossing warning devices and his judgment, likely impaired by fatigue, that he could cross the tracks before the arrival of the train.
National Transportation Safety Board Railroad Accident Report: Collision of National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) Train 59 with a Loaded Truck-Semitrailer Combination at a Highway/Rail Grade Crossing in Bourbonnais, Illinois, March 15, 1999
2002
78 pages
Report
No indication
English
Transportation Safety , Railroad Transportation , Railroads , Accidents , Transportation safety , Collision research , Railroad grade crossing accidents , Passenger transportation , Illinois , Accident investigations , Recommendations , Human factor , Fatigue , Vehicle train collisions , Railroad accidents , Bourbonnais(Illinois)