Did ‘point protector’ cause derailment?

In Austin, Texas, a new piece of equipment intended to keep trains on the track may have contributed to two recent freight train derailments, including one July 7 that forced the cancellation of all morning MetroRail trains and blocked Seventh Street traffic for several hours, Capital Metro officials told the Austin American Statesman.

The "point
protector," installed a week ago by a Capital Metro rail contractor on a
trouble-prone spot in East Austin called the "wye" where three tracks
meet, was removed later July 7. The agency and its contractors are continuing
to investigate the incident.

"The wye is a
challenging piece of track and one we’ve had our eye on already," said
Doug Allen, Capital Metro’s interim chief executive officer. "That’s why
the piece of equipment was there. So we’ll look into it and determine the best
course of action."

That could include
straightening the track just north of the wye, Allen said, but the agency is
still studying the issue.

Another Capital Metro
freight locomotive derailed at the same spot July 4, officials said. Because
there is no service on weekends, MetroRail was unaffected by that incident.
There were no injuries in either incident.

The MetroRail trains
resumed their regular runs in the afternoon and evening July 7 once freight
locomotives and rail cars had been cleared from the 32-mile section of track
where the passenger service runs. Federal Railroad Administration rules require
that the corridor be clear of freight equipment before passenger trains enter
that area. MetroRail trains are expected to run on schedule July 8.

MetroRail, which has 19
runs a day in the corridor between Leander and downtown Austin, had an average
of 779 boardings each weekday during May. Assuming that average has continued,
about 400 commuters were affected by the cancelled Wednesday morning runs.

Capital Metro, once it
learned of the derailment, dispatched buses to several MetroRail stations to
give rides to any rail customers who showed up.

What Capital Metro called a
"walkoff" – a minor derailment in which a train wheel leaves the
track at slow speed but the train does not overturn – occurred between 2 a.m.
and 3 a.m. at the wye south of Seventh Street. The locomotive of the 67-car
southbound freight train, operated on Capital Metro-owned track by its
contractor Watco Companies Inc., hopped the track at approximately five mph.
Both freight and passenger trains must move slowly in this triangle of tracks.

The train, carrying crushed
limestone, had been intending to make a left turn at the wye and continue east
toward Manor. MetroRail trains, which run from about 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. and from
3:10 to 7:40 p.m. on weekdays, pass through the wye but turn west.

The wye was the scene of a
2007 freight derailment that led to a substantial spill of diesel fuel when a
tank ruptured, according to an official with the agency’s former rail
contractor. Since then, with restrictions on train speed in place, officials
said there had been no other derailments there until the two incidents this
week.

Watco, which operates the
freight trains, suggested placing the point protector there and Herzog Transit
Services, which runs MetroRail and maintains the track, installed the piece of equipment,
Allen said.