What is being described as urgent recommendations are being released by the National Transportation Safety Board in the wake of the August train crash on Hoxie. Two Union Pacific trains collided on the 17th of August killing a conductor and engineer and injuring two others. The derailment caused temporary evacuations of hundreds in the Hoxie area. The report that was released gives critical recommendations but the NTSB states the investigation is not concluded and still ongoing.
The report states a board found both the northbound and southbound trains’ air brakes were not applied before the collision, reporting the northbound train’s engineer did not trigger the emergency brake. The NTSB reported the trains’ horn sequencer configurations prevented the alerter from activating and initiating a penalty brake application at least three times before the collision. According to the NTSB, the alerter applies the train brakes and provides visual and audible alarms if the device fails to detect activity for a predetermined amount of time. Certain actions by train engineers reset the alerters, such as sounding the horn, changing the throttle position and altering the brake handle position. Although the Hoxie train collision investigation is ongoing, the NTSB is concerned with these automatic train control systems that prevent the alerter from operating. The board states in the report that “if the alerter had not been repeatedly reset, it would have alarmed in the minutes before the collision with visual and audible alarms and a penalty brake initiation had the engineer not responded.” The NTSB states if the alerter had alarmed during the minutes leading up to the Hoxie crash, it would have “provided an opportunity to prevent or mitigate this accident.” During its investigation of railroad accidents over the decades, the NTSB states alerters have prevented some train accidents.
Original Article:
At 2:36 am page alerts went out to the Hoxie Fire Department and Walnut Ridge Hazmat for what was thought to be a train derailment on the tracks on Hwy 67 towards Minturn.
Once responders were on scene they found what appeared to be a head on collision between two trains. There are reports of a least two dead, several injured, a chemical spill, and one of the trains on fire.
At 3:30 am Lawrence County Sheriffs Office, Walnut Ridge Police Department and Hoxie Police Department began evacuating the south end of Hoxie. Walnut Ridge and Hoxie PD are going door to door evacuating people at this time. The Walnut Ridge Community Center has been opened up to take in the evacuees from Hoxie.
Lawrence County OES and ADEM were both notified of the disaster. Walnut Ridge Fire Department has called for assistance from Greene County and Randolph County Hazmat Teams.
Craighead County and the Arkansas State Police have brought in units to help block traffic on Hwy. 63 into Hoxie.
Representatives from Union Pacific are on their way to assess the situation.