WASHINGTON — The two CSX employees killed in a 2017 accident near Washington Union Station died as a result of their decision to walk on an active Amtrak track, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report issued Tuesday.
The NTSB has recommended to CSX and Amtrak that they prohibit employees from walking or working too closely to the track of another railroad unless they have a means of communicating with the other railroad.
The June 27, 2017, accident occurred when the CSX conductor and conductor trainee, who had been inspecting a problem with a car on their freight train, were struck by an Amtrak train coming from behind them. The report said their likely focus on an Amtrak train coming from the opposite direct at roughly the same time likely contributed to the accident.
“Walking on active railroad tracks without protection is dangerous and wrong,” Robert Hall, director of the NTSB’s Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials, said in a media release on the report. “Walking on another company’s tracks without protection is even more dangerous.”
The full report is available here, while the safety recommendation is here.
