Freight trains collide in Tacoma, spill diesel fuel
Originally published August 28, 2015
Two freight trains collided Friday morning in Tacoma. (Tacoma Fire Department photo) Two freight trains collided in a railroad switchyard in Tacoma on Friday morning.
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By Jessica Lee
Seattle Times staff reporter
Two freight trains collided in a railroad switchyard in Tacoma on Friday morning.
According to a BNSF Railway spokesman, Gus Melonas, the trains — one owned by Union Pacific and the other by BNSF — crashed at 10:45 a.m. while traveling between 5 and 8 mph where tracks converge about a half mile north of the Tacoma Amtrak station.
The trains were heading north on separate tracks and collided as they were merging onto the same track, he said.
No one was injured and the collision did not affect the day’s other train routes, he said.
Melonas said a crew was working Friday afternoon to get the two derailed trains back on tracks and contain between 500 and 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled in the crash.
He said workers would likely finish the work by Friday evening and service in the area would likely be restored by Saturday morning.
The total cost of damage is unknown.
Melonas said it’s unclear exactly why the crash occurred and BNSF and Union Pacific will investigate.