UPDATE: NTSB Releases Memo for Determination of BNSF Minnesota Derailment 

NTSB’s derailment diagram of the BNSF derailment in Minnesota earlier this year.

Courtesy of NTSB

RAYMOND, Minn. - On Monday, October 16th, NTSB Newsroom announced via Twitter that it has opened a docket “for its investigation of the March 30, 2023 derailment of a BNSF Railway freight train on the Marshall District in Raymond, Minnesota.”

Earlier this year, RT&S reported on a “Fractured Rail Identified in Fiery BNSF Minnesota Derailment.” In that April report, BNSF analyzed “a section of fractured rail following [March 2023’s] fiery derailment that forced evacuations in southwest Minnesota. . . however they have not officially concluded that the broken rail caused the crash.”

On April 18^th, the NTSB released a preliminary report on the Minnesota derailment and stated that a train carrying 14 hazardous materials tank cars was traveling north, and at 12:58 a.m. local time, 10 tank cars derailed, hazardous materials were released and contributed to a fire.

On Monday, October 16^th, NTSB Newsroom announced via Twitter that it has opened a docket “for its investigation of the March 30, 2023 derailment of a BNSF Railway freight train on the Marshall District in Raymond, Minnesota.”

The docket contains 11 items, ranging from the preliminary report to tank car derailment damage to a rail equipment accident record and NTSB tank car damage assessment forms. The Tank Car Derailment Damage Factual Report from July 22, 2023 can also be read below:

The memo (below) sent from Zach Zagata, IIC to Robert Hall, Director, Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations outlines what post-accident inspections and evidence found. It states that the evidence “obtained indicate that track-train dynamics worsened a rail head surface condition until a complete sectional break out of the rail head occurred underneath the L-TWI8801-29L.” The memo goes on in more detail surrounding DOT 117 Tank Car Design and Vulnerability and how “preliminary findings show that hazardous material releases occurred from five breached tank cars, [and] two of these derailed tank cars sustained punctured shells that released ethanol, which ignited and destroyed manway gaskets of the three additional tank cars and led to the further release of hazardous materials and spreading fire.” 

Similarly, issues were also identified in NTSB investigation HMD22LR001 and “insuffiency of tank car thermal protection system design and thermal performance regulations and standards for gaskets used in tank car service equipment are being addressed.” The NTSB issued 7 new safety recommendations with 2 to the FRA, 3 to PHMSA, and 2 to the AAR.

The NTSB concluded that “the in-service rail failure (broken rail) that caused this accident was related to a rail head surface condition.” According to the NTSB, it recommends the investigation be closed.