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NTSB blames lack of maintenance, broken rail for wreck

Palo Alto train wreck findings released

GRAETTINGER — A broken rail and inadequate track maintenance led to a fiery train wreck in Palo Alto County last year, according to federal accident investigators.

In a report released Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board indicated that the Union Pacific Railroad did not maintain the tracks near Graettinger to its own standards or to federal standards prior to the March 10, 2017, derailment.

The board also faulted Federal Railroad Administration inspectors for not reporting all the defects they found on those tracks.

The use of an older type of tank car “contributed to the severity of the accident,” the board reported.

The tank cars in the derailed train were built to U.S. Department of Transportation Specification 111, according to the federal accident investigators. The most up-to-date tank cars are built to U.S. DOT Specification 117.

“The use of DOT-117 cars instead of the DOT-111 tank rail cars would have mitigated or prevented the release of ethanol from most of the derailed cars,” the NTSB reported.

“Union Pacific fully cooperated with the NTSB during its investigation,” said Raquel Espinoza, a railroad spokeswoman. “We’re reviewing its findings and recommendations. We’ll continue to work diligently to implement improvements to inspection and maintenance programs across our system.”

During the crash, about 322,000 gallons of ethanol were released from 14 out of 20 derailed tank cars. That ethanol ignited, causing a fire that burned for about 36 hours. Three homes within a half mile of the crash site were evacuated.

No one was injured.

The crash caused about $4 million in damage. The NTSB reported that 400 feet of track and a 152-foot long bridge were destroyed.

The crash southeast of Graettinger happened at 12:50 a.m. and was reported to local emergency personnel by someone who saw flames near the tracks.

The train involved consisted of three locomotives, 98 tank cars full of ethanol and two buffer cars. Buffer cars are train cars that are positioned between tank cars full of hazardous materials and the locomotives to help shield the train crew from fires, explosions and leaks.

The lead locomotive had an event recorder, which saves data much like the black boxes on an airliner. That event recorder showed the train was moving at 30 mph, which is the speed limit for that section of track.

The event recorder also revealed an emergency application of the air brakes, without any action by the crew, soon after the locomotives and 20 cars crossed a bridge that carries the tracks over Jack Creek.

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