Yorkville looking for answers on train derailment
By Steve Lord slord@stmedianetwork.com January 26, 2012 5:30PM
Workers use heavy equipment to upright rail cars that derailed and tipped over on the Illinois Rail Net line just west of Poplar Drive in the River's Edge subdivision in Yorkville on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. | Steven Buyansky~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 29, 2012 2:33AM
YORKVILLE — The mayor and City Council plan to have a discussion next week on this week’s derailment of freight cars on the Illinois Railway line on the western side of Yorkville.
As part of the discussion, set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at the City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, officials will consider potential responses should a similar incident happen in the future. “The specific discussion also will focus on the latest details of the incident and response by government entities,”City Administrator Bart Olson said Thursday afternoon.
About 10 total cars derailed Tuesday on the lone Illinois Railway track that runs through Yorkville. The derailment took place near the River’s Edge subdivision, and cut off some residents there from outside access where the track crosses a city street.
Railway officials told the city Wednesday they are investigating the cause of the derailment, focusing on the condition of the track, the ground beneath the track and the weather conditions.
The derailment was just a bit west of the site of another derailment about 1-1/2 years ago.
The railroad never notified city officials of Tuesday’s incident. Police found out from calls from The Beacon-News and residents.
In an e-mail Thursday, Olson said the city staff has talked to the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Division of Rail Safety, the Federal Railroad Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
An Illinois Commerce Commission spokesman said Thursday they had not been notified of the derailment, and the Federal Railroad Administration said they are investigating the derailment, but only found out about it through local media reports. Olson said the Commerce Commission does not get involved unless it is directed to investigate by the Railroad Administration.
Commerce Commission officials said they inspect the tracks once a year, and the reports for that section of track would be available, Olson said.
Olson said city officials have not yet found anything that would indicate the railroad had violated a federal or state law. The National Transportation Safety Board has made no comment about the incident yet.
A representative from OmniTrax, the parent company for Illinois Railway, did not return phone calls Thursday.
Olson said city officials are aware that residents of River’s Edge “are being inconvenienced as cleanup continues at the derailment site, and in one case the crossing has been blocked for more than 30 minutes. Olson said the blockage of rail crossings is a state matter, and Illinois has no law restricting the amount of time a railway crossing can be blocked.
But Olson asked residents to report blockages as they occur because it can help response time during an emergency.
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