NTSB Concludes Investigation on Central Minnesota Train Derailment and Town Evacuation

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(KNSI) — The National Transportation Safety Board has closed its investigation into a train derailment that led to the evacuation of an entire central Minnesota town this past spring.

According to Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigation Director Robert Hall, “As a result of the physical evidence, NTSB staff has determined that the in-service rail faiure (broken rail) that caused this accident was related to a rail head surface condition. The transportation safety issues related to the DOT 117 tank car design and vulnerability issues identified are currently being addressed in [an] NTSB investigation and no additional reccommendations are warranted.”

With those findings, Hall determined the investigation to be closed.

Residents of the small Kandiyohi County town of Raymond, population 800, were awakened just after 1:00 a.m. March 30th, 2023, after 24 mixed freight Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail cars went off the tracks on the city’s western edge and caught fire.

The cars included 14 hazardous materials tankers carrying 28,900 gallons of denatured ethanol. Two tank cars sustained punctured shells, causing the ethanol to leak and catch fire. The resulting fire damaged manway gaskets on three other cars, which released more ethanol, contributing to an even larger fire, which burned for another day before being declared officially extinguished.

A piece of fractured rail was discovered on April 1st and was sent to the BNSF lab in Topeka, Kansas, for further examination. Preliminary findings released in April showed the train was manned by one engineer, one conductor, a brakeman and a conductor trainee. According to recording devices on the engines, the speed limit on the tracks was 49 miles an hour, and the 40 car train was traveling at 43 miles an hour at the time of the failure. Investigators say track-train dynamics worsened a rail head surface condition until a complete sectional break out of the rail head occurred underneath the train.

Damage is estimated to be around $6.1 million.

Minnesota’s federal lawmakers are urging action to help prevent train disasters like the one in Raymond.

The Train Safety Act would create tougher standards for carrying hazardous materials. The legislation would also impose stricter maintenance requirements and ensure train crews are properly staffed. The bill has been introduced in committee.

Federal data showed there were around 1,000 derailments in 2022.

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