NTSB Issues Preliminary Report for December 2024 UP Train Collision
What happened?
On Dec. 18, 2024, at about 5:00 p.m. local time, westbound UP train ZAILA-18 derailed after colliding with a northbound highway vehicle that was traversing the Cedar Street (or US Route 285) highway railroad grade crossing in Pecos, Texas (see image above). Train ZAILA-18 struck a 2015 Peterbilt truck-tractor in combination with a 2016 Scheuerle hydraulic platform semitrailer (a combination vehicle) operated by Boss Heavy Haul LLC and transporting an oversize load, according to the report. As a result of the collision, the four head-end locomotives and the first 11 railcars derailed, and the derailed locomotives released about 9,000 gallons of locomotive diesel fuel into the ground. The collision displaced the combination vehicle’s load, which struck a municipal building. The engineer and the conductor of train ZAILA-18 were “fatally injured;” three bystanders were transported to a local hospital, treated for minor injuries, and released. Visibility conditions at the time of the accident were clear, NTSB noted, and the temperature was 55°F with no precipitation. According to the agency, UP estimated damages to signals, equipment, and track to be about $4 million; Boss Heavy Haul LLC estimated damages to the combination vehicle and the load to be about $2.2 million.
Train ZAILA-18, crewed by an engineer and a conductor, was traveling from Shreveport, La., to Los Angeles, Calif., according to NTSB. The train consisted of four locomotives and 47 intermodal railcars. The consist included seven intermodal shipping containers carrying hazardous materials. These containers “did not breach or release hazardous materials,” according to the report.
The combination vehicle was traveling from Houston, Texas, to Mentone, Texas. A single driver operated the combination vehicle, which was escorted by two pilot vehicles and a uniformed police motorcycle escort. The load, a demethanizer tower, was 12 feet wide, 116 feet long, and 91,000 pounds.
According to the report, the combination vehicle entered the highway-railroad grade crossing about one minute before the collision. The grade crossing was equipped with flashing lights, crossbucks, gates, and bells. The grade crossing’s warning equipment activated and signaled the train’s approach while the combination vehicle was blocking the railroad tracks. Preliminary review of event recorder data from the third locomotive showed that the train ZAILA-18 crew “initiated an emergency braking application shortly before the collision, and the train slowed from about 68 mph to about 64 mph before striking the truck.” The maximum authorized speed in the area for railroad traffic was 70 mph.
While on scene, NTSB investigators reviewed radio logs; conducted interviews; reviewed surveillance camera video; made sight distance observations; examined the track, signals, locomotives, and railcars; examined the highway-railroad grade crossing and the combination vehicle; reviewed Boss Heavy Haul LLC’s policies, procedures, and training programs; and recovered data from the lead locomotive’s event recorder and external- and internal facing image recorders for further review.
NTSB’s investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity, the agency says, will focus on site modeling, accident data analysis, highway railroad grade crossing safety, locomotive cab survivability and crashworthiness, and carrier requirements for traversing grade crossings while transporting oversize loads.
Parties to the investigation include the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA); the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT); the city of Pecos; UP; Boss Heavy Haul LLC; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET); and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).
