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Train conductor Eddie Johnson talks with a commuter at the Fredericksburg depot yesterday
Stranded VRE commuters board a bus at the Fredericksburg depot after CSX halted traffic on its railroad tracks.
Air Force Capt. Troy Uhlman of Spotsylvania County was aboard the train that derailed yesterday morning north of Quantico Marine Corps Base. Three passengers and a crew member were injured.
Mary Gonzales of Spotsylvania waits for a ride in the Quantico train station after being escorted from the derailed train to the depot. Gonzales was trying to get to her job at American University, where she's also a student. She expected to be at least three hours late.
Commuters leave the VRE train that derailed near Quantico during yesterday morning's rush hour, injuring four. Train 304 was carrying about 520 passengers toward Washington when its engine and last three cars jumped the tracks north of Quantico. |
By KELLY HANNON
Four people sustained minor injuries yesterday when a Virginia Railway Express commuter train derailed just north of Quantico Marine Corps Base.
A locomotive engine and three cars on Train 304 jumped the track at 6:43 a.m. near Possum Point Power Station. Three passengers and a crew member were treated for injuries at Potomac Hospital and released. More than 500 other riders were stranded for almost three hours until a train was sent to take them back to the VRE stations where they had boarded.
The accident closed the CSX tracks for more than 12 hours, shutting down all train traffic on CSX's main East Coast line and affecting Amtrak's Auto Train to Florida. VRE officials said they planned to resume full service this morning; CSX promised to work overnight repairing the tracks.
The train had just crossed the single-track Quantico Creek bridge and was moving into an area with parallel tracks when the accident occurred. It derailed at a switch point that directs trains onto one of two parallel tracks.
The first three cars had successfully passed the switch point when the final three cars, pushed by a locomotive, jumped the track, said National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman.
All of the train's cars remained upright, and the derailed cars traveled about a foot away from the rails, Hersman said. The train came to rest 245 feet north of the switch point, she said.
"The train did not even tip, or really even lean," VRE spokesman Mark Roeber said.
The train was traveling 40 mph when it derailed, below the 45-mph speed limit at the switch point, Hersman said.
Passengers aboard the train said they were fortunate the accident wasn't worse.
"I was snoozing and I felt this jolt like we ran over something, then we thumped along but we weren't going too fast, which we were thankful for," said Mike Woody, who drove from Hanover County to Fredericksburg to catch the train. He was in the last car.
"We had also just crossed the Quantico bridge. So it could have been much worse if it happened on the bridge," Woody said.
CSX cleared and repaired the tracks throughout the day. One of the two tracks was scheduled to reopen at 7 p.m. last night.
VRE will run a full, regular schedule this morning. But due to congestion on the rails, "trains will encounter delays of between 30 and 40 minutes en route to Union Station," according to a VRE statement.
"There was damage to the rail" following the accident, Hersman said. "It's shifted, the ballast has been disturbed."
Train 304 carried about 520 passengers and three crew members at the time of the derailment, Hersman said. Another train was brought in and began taking those passengers back to their originating stations about 9:45 a.m.
Passengers began arriving at the Fredericksburg station about 10:30 a.m.
Air Force Capt. Troy Uhlman, a Spotsylvania County resident heading to Lorton, was in the rear car of the train.
"The whole train started to rattle and I just held onto the seat in front of me," Uhlman said after returning to Fredericksburg. "We tilted to the side and someone yelled we had derailed. Then the train came to a grinding halt."
About 1,800 commuters had already made it into Washington safely on two earlier trains. To help get them home yesterday evening, VRE had buses pick them up at the Franconia/Springfield Metro station.
Northbound Amtrak passengers were bused from Richmond to Washington during the day. Fourteen Amtrak trains headed south from Washington were canceled, with no alternate transportation provided.
Service resumed after 7 p.m. but 30- to 60-minute delays were expected as trains passed the Quantico area, according to Amtrak.
VRE's Manassas line to Washington was not affected.
The derailment was the first since VRE began service in 1992, Roeber said. Only one train car suffered damage, he said.
The scene of the wreck, visible from Possum Point Road in eastern Prince William County, was saturated with investigators from the NTSB, CSX and Amtrak. By early afternoon, the first three train cars had been decoupled and VRE officials were preparing to move them off the tracks. Cranes and heavy equipment were brought in to assist with removal.
The NTSB's investigation is ongoing and will include a review of the train's data recorders, Hersman said. The recorders contain speed and braking data that will assist investigators, she said.
The track in the vicinity of Possum Point is Class IV rail, meaning it must be inspected several times a week, Hersman said. A CSX inspector had checked that section of track Monday, she said.
Yvonne Pfeiffer's daughter, an American University student, was riding Train 304 yesterday. Pfeiffer thanked VRE for its "quick action."
"My daughter said the numbers of rescue personnel were so many that the situation was very well-handled and there was no confusion whatsoever. The whole emergency was handled calmly and professionally," she wrote in an e-mail.
After yesterday morning's excitement, at least one commuter decided to go home early. Woody got into his car at Fredericksburg and headed back to Hanover.
"With all the adrenalin in my body," he said, "I think I'll be taking the rest of the day off."
To reach KELLY HANNON:
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
