Amtrak service disrupted by train derailment
An Amtrak spokeswoman said rail service between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh was canceled Saturday because of the derailment of three Norfolk Southern Corp. freight trains Friday afternoon in Hempfield, Westmoreland County.
Tracks in that area, along Georges Station Road, carry both freight and passenger trains. Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian service usually travels daily between New York City and Pittsburgh, connecting in Pittsburgh with Capitol Limited trains and trains heading west.
Officials said one train crashed into the rear of another, derailing cars that fell onto a third train on an adjacent track. No injuries have been reported.
Norfolk Southern personnel and contractors who specialize in derailments began cleaning up the wreckage overnight. Work was continuing Saturday, according to Hempfield fire Chief Anthony Kovacic.
A Norfolk Southern statement Saturday said recovery work includes the use of cranes, excavators, loaders and other heavy equipment to clear the tracks of derailed rail cars and shipping containers. The statement said service was expected to be restored on the double mainline tracks late Saturday night.
The company said a train of empty crude oil tankers traveling west from Altoona to Conway struck the rear of an intermodal train that also was westbound.
Two locomotives pulling the crude oil cars were knocked off the track but remained upright. Shipping containers derailed off the intermodal train.
Some of the derailed cars then struck part of another intermodal train that was traveling east on the adjacent track, causing the derailment of eight rail cars on that train. A total of 11 intermodal rail cars transporting 50 shipping containers derailed, according to the statement.
A backlog of traffic on the line is expected to delay freight trains by 24 to 48 hours, Norfolk Southern said. The cause of the derailment remains under investigation.