Wreckage of an Amtrak train derailment in Leoni Township, MI where a westbound passenger train struck a tractor trailer that was stuck on the tracks. Photo credit: Rebecca Cook / Reuters

Leoni Township is located in Jackson County, Michigan about 44 miles southeast of Lansing, 32 miles west of Ann Arbor and about 5 miles northeast of Jackson.

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The westbound Amtrak train carrying 68 passengers on its way from Ann Arbor, MI to Chicago, IL crashed into a tractor trailer that was stuck on the tracks. Ten people had to be hospitalized when the train derailed.

The accident happened around 8:19 a.m. at the Portage Rd. rail crossing in Leoni Township, just 5 miles outside of Jackson, MI. The truck was pulling a lowboy trailer and the crossing is on a slight incline in both directions because the tracks sit a a higher elevation than the roadway.

Map showing location of train derailment in Leoni Township, MI at the Portage Rd. rail crossing where an Amtrak passenger train crashed into a semi truck that was stuck on the tracks.

An article appearing in the Detroit News website reported on the story:

“The train made contact with a heavy vehicle in its path at a public highway crossing, causing the engine to come to rest on its side and the first two cars of the train to lose contact with the rails,” according to an Amtrak statement. “At the time of the incident, the train was westbound from Pontiac, Mich., to Chicago with 68 passengers, five crew members and a train consisting of two locomotives and six rail cars.”

The train’s engine plus one of the cars jumped the tracks in the collision. The truck driver plus one of the railroad workers on the train were injured along with several passengers. According to reports, none were fatalities and the injuries were said to be non life-threatening.

The trucker attempted to cross the tracks and did not make it all the way across due to the low ground clearance of the trailer. There are no details as to what transpired after the truck became stuck or how long it was sitting there before the train crashed into it.

In this type of situation, it is best for the trucker to call 911 so the authorities can notify the train ahead of time and give it enough room to stop and avoid a collision. It was reported that the train was moving at top speed, around 79 miles per hour at the time of the collision.

According to news reports, it is expected that the big rig driver will be cited for crossing the tracks without sufficient undercarriage clearance, causing the trailer to get stuck high centered across the tracks.

The tracks where the accident occurred are owned by Norfolk Southern Railway. The tracks were severely damaged at the accident site and will need to be repaired.

The accident is currently under investigation.

Related searches:

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Novi Truck Accident Lawyer
Pontiac Truck Accident Lawyer

Photo shows MacArthur Bridge across Mississippi River from St Louis to East St Louis

The victim, identified as 57-year old Carter Perry, was working on MacArthur Bridge located at South Sixth and Gratiot streets when he stepped onto an unsecured metal walkway. According to the St. Louis police, Perry fell to his death when the walkway gave way. The incident occurred at about 12:50 p.m.

Aerial view of section of MacArthur Bridge over 6th St in St. Louis, MO where a railroad worker, employed by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, fell to his death on January 25, 2012.

Map showing location of fatal accident near South 6th St. and Gratiot St. where a railroad worker fell to his death from the MacArthur Bridge in St. Louis, MO

stltoday.com reports:

He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police have ruled Perry’s death accidental.

George Muraski, chief of police for Terminal Railroad, said Perry had been employed with the railroad since 1975. He was a resident of Belleville.

“He was a very, very nice person,” Muraski said. “He was friendly and always smiled.”

Muraski said the railroad is assisting the Federal Railroad Association with an investigation of the incident.

Related search:

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Photo shows rescue workers in front of the Metrolink locomotive lying on its side after penetrating the lead passenger car (left) in the Chatsworth, CA railroad accident in 2008.

The Chatsworth train collision occurred at 4:22 p.m. PDT on Friday September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on in the Chatsworth district of Los Angeles, California. The scene of the accident was a curved section of single track on the Metrolink Ventura County Line just east of Stoney Point.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigated the cause of the collision, the Metrolink train ran through a red signal before entering a section of single track where the opposing freight train had been given the right of way by the train dispatcher. The NTSB faulted the Metrolink train’s engineer for the collision, concluding that he was distracted by text messages he was sending while on duty

The Rail Safety Improvement Act, which passed into law after the 2008 disaster, calls for installation of a technology known as Positive Train Control, or PTC, that automatically puts the brakes on trains about to collide or derail.

The law requires railroads to install PTC by the end of 2015 on an estimated 70,000 miles of track used by trains carrying passengers or extremely hazardous materials such as chlorine. The $13 billion project requires the railroad companies to pay for most of the cost.

The railroad companies have won over key Republicans, and extracted a major concession from the Obama administration in their quest to scale back and delay a system.

MSNBC reports:

The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent advisory and investigative agency, have championed  PTC for over two decades to prevent accidents resulting from human error, the main cause of rail crashes.

Investigators with the agency have identified 21 train wrecks since late 2001 that, they say, would have been averted by PTC. In all, the accidents caused 53 deaths and nearly 1,000 injuries.

“PTC can prevent these human errors from causing collisions, hazmat releases, passengers killed and injured, and train crews being killed,” said Steven Ditmeyer, a former rail industry executive and federal official who now teaches in Michigan State University’s railway management program.

Serious train crashes, he said, “are very rare events, but they still occur.”

MSNBC: Read Full Story.

Fatal train crash where two BNSF railroad workers were killed on April 17, 2011 about 5 miles west of Red Oak, IA. Photo credit: Kyle Wilson / Creston News Advertiser

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The following video describes one of the five train derailments that were considered in the recent NTSB safety recommendations. It was the fifth train accident between April, 2011 and August, 2011 where train speed was a factor.

The NTSB is an independent agency operating under the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for administrative purposes.

Following is a table of the train accidents in 2011 that lead to the new safety recommendations:

In each of the five accidents, it was determined that railroad crew members failed to operate their trains at the required restricted speed.

Download the NTSB Recommendation Letter (PDF)

Rail yard in Amarillo, TX where a BNSF railroad worker was killed in a train accident with a maintenance car on January 9, 2012.

Amarillo is located in Potter and Randall County in the northern part of the state. The accident occurred in Potter County.

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The accident occurred shortly after 11:00 a.m. Monday morning on a section of track in an Amarillo, TX rail yard near the Ross St overpass between S Williams St and S Aldredge St.

Map showing location of fatal train accident in an Amarillo, TX rail yard where a BNSF railroad worker was killed on a section of track between S Williams and S Aldredge Streets.

An article in the Amarillo Globe-News website reports:

The accident occurred on railroad tracks between South Williams Street and the Ross Street overpass in north Amarillo … BNSF employees were moving a rail grinder car from one track to another when the car struck the man, throwing him under the car … They were moving the car because they had discovered a leak and were going to repair it

The railroad worker who was killed was identified as Tommy Touvell, 57 years old, from Byers, TX a town near Wichita Falls and about 249 miles southeast of Amarillo.

Investigators are trying to understand what happened. The victim was working with a group of railroad employees and was on the tracks where he was supposed to be at the time. Apparently there was some sort of miscommunication between him and the maintenance car driver, who was not able to see him on the tracks at the time.

The cause of the accident is currently under investigation.

Thick black smoke visible for miles from the collision of three CSX freight trains following a collision and derailment on tracks near Valpariso, IN on January 6, 2012.

Valparaiso is located in Porter County, Indiana in the northwestern part of the state about 20 miles southeast of Gary and about 13 miles southeast of Portage.

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The first train derailed after crashing into the rear of another train that was stopped on the tracks. The third train coming in the opposite direction on a parallel track ran into the debris from the first wreck.

The result was a fiery pileup of rail cars involving hazardous materials. Two railroad workers were injured in the mishap and had to be taken to a nearby hospital and an evacuation was ordered for more than 100 people nearby.

An article on the story appeared in the MSNBC News website:

One westbound train was stopped on the tracks in a remote stretch of Porter County between Washington and Jackson townships when a second train rear-ended it. An eastbound train on a parallel track collided with the debris from the original collision, explained Sgt. Larry LaFlower with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department.

The accident occurred near County Road 600 N and County Road 500 East.

Map showing location of CSX train derailment and collision in a rural area of Porter County, IN near county roads 600 North and 500 East.

The injured railroad workers were taken to Porter Hospital in Valparaiso. Details are sketchy, but their injuries were reported to be non-life threatening.

The first collision was between a 77-car westbound train that was stopped on the tracks. A second 60-car westbound train rear-ended the stopped train causing rail cars from both trains to derail. A third train with 48 cars was traveling in the opposite direction on a parallel track and crashed into the debris from the first two trains.

Each of the three trains had two crew members aboard. The two injured railroad workers were aboard the first train that rear-ended the stopped train. None of the other four other railroad workers were injured in the mishap.

The MSNBC article also reported:

No significant leaks or spills of hazardous materials appear to have occurred but inspections of all loaded and empty hazardous materials cars are under way

The fire was a result of the collision involving the third train. About 100 to 200 people were evacuated from the area. There were hazardous materials involved. Some of the hazardous materials were from empty cars and some were flammable materials in other rail cars.

According to the railroad company, the first two trains had two locomotives each and the third train had three locomotives.

The cause of the train wreck and derailment is not known, but is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The announcement was made today at the Federal Register website:

The article at the Federal Register website explains what the NSRT is:

The NSRT is an average of the risk indexes for gated public crossings nationwide where train horns are routinely sounded. FRA developed this risk index to serve as one threshold of permissible risk for quiet zones established under this rule across the nation.

This is the fifth time that the NSRT index has been updated since it was first established in 2006. Following is a table of the history of the NSRT Index and the dates that changes were made to it:

NSRT Formula

The following is the formula for calculating the NSRT:

NSRT Formula

Background and Purpose of the NSRT Index

The Federal Register website article describes the background of the NSRT Index and how local communities can use it in their calculations. The Federal Register article explains it thus:

Thus, a community that is trying to establish and/or maintain its quiet zone, pursuant to 49 CFR Part 222, can compare the Quiet Zone Risk Index calculated for its specific crossing corridor to the NSRT to determine whether sufficient measures have been taken to compensate for the excess risk that results from prohibiting routine sounding of the locomotive horn.

Please check the following article for a complete explanation of 49 CFR Part 222—USE OF LOCOMOTIVE HORNS AT PUBLIC HIGHWAY-RAIL GRADE CROSSINGS

Rail cars lay toppled over onto their sides after a Union Pacific train derailment in Pocatello, ID on Friday, December 30, 2011. Photo credit: KPVI News

Pocatello is located in Bannock County, Idaho in the southeastern part of the state about 234 miles southeast of Boise, 118 miles northeast of Twin Falls and 52 miles southwest of Idaho Falls.

The mishap occurred around 11:50 p.m. Friday on one of the three main lines that run through the rail yard near the cross streets of North Union Pacific Ave and Lander Street.

Map showing location of Union Pacific train derailment in a Pocatello, ID rail yard near North Union Pacific Ave and Lander Street.

The three rail cars that jumped the tracks tipped over and fell onto their sides. They were container cars that were loaded with flour at the time.

The cause of the mishap is not known at this time but is currently under investigation. None of the containers were breached and no one was injured in the incident. None of the flour was spilled in the derailment.

Fortunately no railroad workers were injured in the mishap and there were no fuel leaks and no hazardous materials were involved.

The derailed cars were blocking the one main line, but rail traffic was not interrupted on the other two main lines that run through the yard.

An article in the KPVI News website reported on the story.

Aaron Hunt, Director of Corporate and Media Relations for UP, says a train was moving through the Pocatello yard around 11:50 p.m. when three containers derailed near Lander Street and North Union Pacific Avenue.

Officials felt that it was best to load the derailed containers onto flatbed trucks and haul them out of the area so rail traffic in the area could resume as quickly as possible.

Even though the derailed cars appeared to be sound enough to be put back into service, it was decided to remove them in this situation rather than re-rail them on the spot. The plan was to remove them for a closer inspection before putting them back into service.

According to the railroad, the line was cleared by by 7:50 p.m. on Saturday, the following day.

Kansas City, MO Hazmat personnel check out report of a suspected chemical leak that sent two railroad workers to the hospital on Monday, January 2, 2012.

Kansas City is located in Jackson County, Missouri plus parts of Clay County, Cass County, and Platte County, Missouri. Kansas City is about 149 miles northwest of Jefferson City, 126 miles northwest of Columbia, 20 miles northwest of Lee’s Summit and 9 1/2 miles west of Independence.

The incident occurred on Monday just before noon in Jackson County in a Kansas City rail yard south of the Missouri River between Nicholson Ave and Guinotte Ave.

Map showing location where two railroad workers were injured from a suspected chemical leak in a rail yard between Nicholson Ave and Guinotte Ave in Kansas City, MO.

Two railroad workers were injured following a suspected hazardous materials leak and were taken to North Kansas City Hospital after inhaling what may have been a dangerous chemical.

There are no details available as to the condition of the two injured railroad workers. It was reported that they were most likely treated and released and that their injuries were minor.

Hazardous Materials personnel were dispatched to the area. Although there were no evacuations ordered, access to the parts of East Bottoms were closed off and residents were told to shelter in place and keep their windows and doors closed until it was determined that it was safe.

Hazmat crews found no leaks and returned later with fresh oxygen tanks for a second attempt to locate the leak. It was suspected that a rail car containing hydrogen chloride was the cause of the problem.

The rail car was checked and the Hazmat crews found no evidence of any leaks. By 2:00 p.m. it was announced that nothing suspicious had been found.

The fire department is looking at the possibility that the rail tanker may have been overfilled and the chemical expanded due to the heat of the morning sun and may have caused a relief valve to release some of the chemical.

An article in the Kansas City Fox 4 News website reported on the story:

A HazMat team then approached the rail car with oxygen masks and thermal imaging cameras, but didn’t detect any gas or substance. Smoky Dyer, Kansas City Fire Chief, said it’s possible the car filled with the gas but then released pressure, causing the gas to dissipate and become undetectable.

Chouteau Trafficway was temporarily shut down between East Front Street and St. John Avenue as a precaution due to the possibility of fumes being carried by the wind.

The cause of the mishap is not known at this time but is currently under investigation.

After a thorough investigation, OSHA determined that Union Pacific had violated laws designed to protect whistle blowers when they fired the Idaho employee 23 days after he notified the company of the injury. OSHA in turn ordered Union Pacific to pay the employee more than $300,000 in damages, back wages and attorney’s fees.

Source: Omaha.com

The agency noted that the railroad has had four similar cases in other locations since 2009.

U.P. said in a statement that it “strongly disagrees” with OSHA’s decision and plans to appeal immediately. The company said the agency’s move is an example of conflicting government policies that should be changed. It also noted that a separate government review process under the Railway Labor Act found that the railroad had not acted inappropriately in firing the employee.

“This case sends a clear message that OSHA will not tolerate retaliation against workers for reporting a work-related injury. An unreported injury is an uninvestigated injury. Nothing is learned that can help prevent the next injury,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The safety of all workers is endangered when employers intimidate injured workers so that they do not report injuries.”

In addition to reinstatement and monetary compensation, OSHA has ordered the railroad to refrain from retaliating against the employee for exercising rights guaranteed under the FRSA.