Cayce, South Carolina, train collision

Last updated

Cayce, South Carolina train collision
NTSB engineers examine 2018 Cayce train collision wreckage.jpg
NTSB engineers examine the wreckage
USA South Carolina location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Details
DateFebruary 4, 2018;6 years ago (2018-02-04)
2:35 a.m. (EST)
(07:35 UTC)
Location Cayce, South Carolina
Coordinates 33°54′31″N81°04′03″W / 33.90861°N 81.06750°W / 33.90861; -81.06750
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Line Columbia Subdivision
Operator Amtrak, CSX
Incident type Collision
CauseMisaligned switch
Statistics
Trains2
Passengers139
Crew8
Deaths2
Injured116

On February 4, 2018, the southbound Amtrak Silver Star No. 91 passenger train from New York City to Miami collided with a stationary CSX Transportation freight train in Cayce, South Carolina, just south of the state's capital of Columbia on CSX's Columbia Subdivision. Two Amtrak crew members were killed and 116 other crew and passengers were injured. [1] [2]

Contents

Crash

The collision happened at around 2:35 a.m. in Cayce, about 4 miles southwest of Columbia. An Amtrak Silver Star passenger train with 139 passengers and 8 crew on board was traveling south from New York to Miami when it collided with CSX train Q210-03 (Cayce, SC-Smyrna, TN), an empty Autorack train. The Silver Star was hauled by GE P42DC locomotive No. 47, while Q210-03 was headed by two GE AC4400CWs, Nos. 130 and 36. [3] As a result of the collision, the lead engine and "several cars" of the Amtrak train derailed, killing 2 crew members and injuring 116 of the 147 people on board. The lead locomotive of the CSX train was severely damaged, and has since been scrapped.

Injured passengers were taken to several local hospitals, but none had life-threatening injuries, according to a Lexington County spokesman. [2] Pine Ridge Middle School was established as a shelter for non-injured passengers to remain until alternate transportation was arranged. [4] There were at least two fuel leaks from the trains, with an estimated 5,000 US gallons (19,000 L) of fuel spilled before a hazardous materials team was able to contain the area. [1]

Aftermath

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Railroad Administration, and CSX Transportation began investigations shortly after the accident. [1] [2] On July 23, 2019, NTSB publicly announced that Amtrak's and CSX Transportation's failure to properly assess and mitigate the risk of conducting switching operations during a signal suspension, coupled with a CSX conductor's error, led to the collision of the Amtrak train with the CSX train. [5] Amtrak locomotive No. 47 was severely damaged and was scrapped, and CSX locomotive No. 130's cab and front area was completely destroyed. No. 36 suffered minor damage and was repaired and put back into service now repainted into the YN3B paint scheme. Nos. 130 and 36 were both towed to the nearest CSX shop, where No. 130 was cut up and scrapped.

Following the accident, Amtrak named locomotive No. 162 in honor of Michael Kempf, the engineer of the Silver Star who perished in the wreck. Conductor Michael B. Cella, the conductor of the Silver Star, who was occupying the locomotive cab along with Kempf because of a signal outage on the train's host railroad, also perished in the wreck. [6]

Reactions

Then U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that his thoughts and condolences were with the victims of the accident. He thanked those involved in the rescue effort. [7]

According to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, it appeared that the CSX train was stationary and on the correct track, while the Amtrak train was on the wrong track. [1] ABC News reported that a switch was incorrectly lined and locked for a siding track instead of the main track for which Amtrak had the authority to occupy. [8] Amtrak chairman Richard Anderson said that the signaling system in the area was not working due to a signal suspension (for signal maintenance purposes) and that trains were being dispatched manually by CSX dispatchers. [7] He later told press that CSX was responsible for the wreck because a switch was lined and locked off the mainline towards the siding. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CSX Transportation</span> Class I railroad system in the US

CSX Transportation, known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles (34,000 km) of track, it is the leading subsidiary of CSX Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

<i>Silver Star</i> (Amtrak train) Amtrak service between New York and Florida

The Silver Star is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 1,522-mile (2,449 km) route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa, Florida. The Silver Star and its sister train in the Silver Service brand, the Silver Meteor, are the descendants of numerous long-distance trains that operated between Florida and New York for most of the 20th century.

On 8 February 1986, twenty-three people were killed in a collision between a Canadian National Railway freight train and a Via Rail passenger train called the Super Continental, including the engine crews of both trains. It was the deadliest rail disaster in Canada since the Dugald accident of 1947, which had thirty-one fatalities, and was not surpassed until the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in 2013, which resulted in 47 deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 Maryland train collision</span> 1987 rail transit disaster in Chase, Maryland, USA

On January 4, 1987, two trains collided on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor main line near Chase, Maryland, United States, at Gunpow Interlocking. Amtrak train 94, the Colonial, traveling north from Washington, D.C., to Boston, crashed at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) into a set of Conrail locomotives running light which had fouled the mainline. Fourteen passengers on the Amtrak train died, as well as the Amtrak engineer and lounge car attendant.

<i>Pere Marquette</i> (Amtrak train) Amtrak train route between Illinois and Michigan

The Pere Marquette is a passenger train operated by Amtrak as part of its Michigan Services on the 176-mile (283 km) route between Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. It is funded in part by the Michigan Department of Transportation and is train 370 eastbound and train 371 westbound. The westbound train leaves Grand Rapids during the morning rush, with the eastbound train leaving Chicago after the afternoon rush, enabling same-day business travel between the two cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Positive train control</span> Type of train protection system

Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains are moving safely and to stop them when they are not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Chatsworth train collision</span> Head-on collision in Los Angeles, California

The 2008 Chatsworth train collision occurred at 4:22:23 p.m. PDT on September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific Railroad freight train and a Metrolink commuter rail train collided head-on in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incidents on the Washington Metro</span> Collisions, derailments, and other accidents involving the WMATA transit service

There have been numerous incidents on the Washington Metro over its history, including several collisions causing injuries and fatalities, and numerous derailments. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has been criticized for disregarding safety warnings and advice from experts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 Maryland train collision</span> Fatal train crash in the United States

On February 16, 1996, a MARC commuter train collided with Amtrak's Capitol Limited passenger train in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, killing three crew and eight passengers on the MARC train; a further eleven passengers on the same train and fifteen passengers and crew on the Capitol Limited were injured. Total damage was estimated at $7.5 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Oxnard train derailment</span> 2015 rail transport disaster in Oxnard, California, USA

The 2015 Oxnard train derailment occurred on February 24, 2015, at 5:44 a.m. local time when a Metrolink passenger train collided with a truck that a driver had mistakenly turned from Rice Avenue onto the tracks and became stuck. After impact, the train derailed at Oxnard, California, United States. As a result of the crash, the train engineer died from his injuries a week later and 32 passengers and crew members were injured. The truck driver exited his vehicle and ran from the scene prior to the crash; he sustained minor injuries that were unrelated to the crash sequence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Crozet, Virginia, train crash</span> Level crossing accident in Virginia, United States

The Crozet, Virginia train crash was a railway accident that occurred on January 31, 2018. A chartered Amtrak train named Congressional Special Train 923, following the route normally used by the Amtrak Cardinal and carrying a group of politicians and lawmakers from the Republican Party, collided with a garbage truck at a level crossing at Lanetown Road in Crozet, Virginia, 12 miles (19 km) west of Charlottesville, Virginia. The train was chartered by Republican lawmakers for transportation from Washington Union Station to an annual retreat at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Several politicians brought their spouses and children with them for the trip; no members of the general public were passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey, Illinois, train collision</span> 1979 crash with two fatalities

The Harvey train collision took place on October 12, 1979, when the Shawnee train operated by Amtrak between Carbondale and Chicago Union Station crashed into a parked Illinois Central Gulf freight train, leading to the death of two crew members.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Blinder, Alan; Caron, Christina; Jeter, John (February 4, 2018). "Amtrak Train Collision in South Carolina Kills at Least 2 and Injures 116". The New York Times . Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Aratani, Lori; Siddiqui, Faiz (February 4, 2018). "Two dead after Amtrak train collides with freight train in South Carolina". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  3. "South Carolina Amtrak crash: Two killed after trains collide". BBC News Online . February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  4. "Pine Ridge Middle School is housing passengers from South Carolina train". The State. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  5. "Inadequate Risk Assessments Led to Fatal, South Carolina Train Collision". NTSB News Release. July 23, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  6. "Brother of Amtrak employee who died said sibling worried about safety". NBC News . February 5, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Aratani, Lori; Siddiqui, Faiz (February 4, 2018). "Federal officials focus on why railroad switch was set in the wrong position in S.C. Amtrak crash that killed 2". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  8. Caplan, David; Han, Courtney; Marzella, Allie; Hutchinson, Bill (February 4, 2018). "Amtrak appeared to be on wrong track in crash that killed 2, but it says freight line controls signals". ABC News . Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  9. "Locked track switch blamed in fatal South Carolina Amtrak crash". Reuters. February 5, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.