A Union Pacific train accident in September 2022, near the Salton Sea in Southern California, was caused by significant dispatching errors and backup system failures, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday. The crash resulted in the death of an engineer and a conductor when the train collided with 75 siding railcars that had been parked for nine months. The report revealed that dispatchers at the headquarters in Omaha mistakenly directed the train into the parked railcars, with one dispatcher disregarding crew warnings based on incorrect computer information.
The NTSB found that a dispatcher had previously removed a note in the computer indicating the track was occupied without verifying it was clear. Another dispatcher ignored a separate warning and continued to route the train into the sidetrack, violating Union Pacific's regulations. Typically, an electronic system would detect parked railcars to prevent such collisions, but rust on the tracks and wheels caused intermittent detection failures. Additionally, Union Pacific personnel had not followed rules requiring mechanical locks on switches to protect stored railcars.
Following the crash, Union Pacific has revised its procedures to prevent future occurrences. Dispatchers must now collaborate with field managers to verify the duration of railcar storage and ensure maintenance workers decommission tracks if cars will remain for over 10 days. Furthermore, managers emphasized the necessity for dispatchers to confirm track clearance before removing occupancy notes from the computer system. The railroad has not yet publicly commented on the NTSB's findings.
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