Report: Bent track a factor in deadly crash in Montana
HELENA, Mont. — Investigators probing a fatal 2021 Amtrak derailment in Montana disclosed this week that the railroad track was bent along a curve near the accident site, and the problem got worse as freight trains traveled over the area before the crash.
Details on the bent track were included in hundreds of pages of investigative documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board. The three passengers who died and two who were seriously injured were in, or had just been in, an observation car that ended up on its side, the investigation found.
Railroad safety practices are facing renewed scrutiny after a fiery freight train derailment released toxic chemicals in Ohio. The Feb. 3 crash of a Norfolk Southern train forced evacuations and raised public health concerns.
Investigators identified the problem with the bent track based on video footage, including from two BNSF freight trains that went around the accident curve within 90 minutes before the Amtrak derailment.
After each of the freight trains had passed, the bend in the track appeared to get worse, investigators reported. Neither of the freight train crews saw the problem.
“The Amtrak engineer also did not see the track misalignment before traveling over that portion of track. Investigators, who watched the videos and were focused primarily on detecting the track deviation, were able to first see the misalignment only a couple seconds before the trains had traveled over it,” the investigators said.
They did not determine the final cause of the accident.
Amtrak’s Empire Builder derailed Sept. 25, 2021, in northern Montana while en route from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, Oregon, with 154 people on board. The track is owned by BNSF Railway.
The train was traveling just below the speed limit of 79 mph when its emergency brakes were activated, the NTSB said.
Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari declined comment on the issues raised in the report. A spokesperson with BNSF Railway did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Forty-four passengers and crew were taken to area hospitals with injuries.
Killed in the accident were Margie and Don Vardahoe, a Georgia couple on a cross-country trip to mark their 50th wedding anniversary, and Zachariah Schneider, 28, a software developer from Illinois.
Rail safety expert David Clarke at the University of Tennessee said a track misalignment as described in the NTSB report could “certainly” cause a derailment.
Former NTSB investigator Robert Chipkevich, who had not reviewed the findings, said track problems can be caused by quality of maintenance and repairs, the integrity of the ballast material that underlies the rails and excessive summer heat.
“If it wasn’t noticed by a crew member, then you have several tons of train crossing over that so it could change,” Chipkevich said.