WASHINGTON — The operator of a piece of maintenance-of-way equipment moved onto unprotected track for unknown reasons, the National Transportation Safety Board said in determining the probable cause of a July 2022 collision between a Union Pacific roadway maintenance machine and an Amtrak Capitol Corridor train in Oakland, Calif. The NTSB completed its final accident report Sept. 12 and released it last week.
The July 15, 2022, collision, with the train traveling at 68 mph, led to the operator of the roadway maintenance machine being hospitalized for treatment of severe injuries [see “Three injured when train strikes …,” Trains News Wire, July 18, 2022]. One passenger on the Amtrak train was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and two train crew members were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Total damage was estimated at more than $300,000.
The collision occurred at 11:01 a.m. The roadway maintenance machine was being used to clear abandoned vehicles from along the railroad right-of-way, and had been granted occupancy rights of Main Track 1 during the period of the collision, but was crossing Main Track 2 when struck by the passenger train. As a result of the accident, UP has revised its web-based training for roadway maintenance machine operators to address grade-crossing safety when warning devices are activated or are not present.
