NTSB says train derailed after being sent down wrong track

By: NewsCenter 16 Email

Updated: Wed 3:18 PM, Oct 24, 2012

Details are beginning to emerge as to what caused an Amtrak passenger train to derail near Niles.

The National Transportation Safety Board says a switcher leading into a rail yard was somehow reversed.

There was a derailing device on the track leading into the yard, which is meant to prevent stored cars from accidentally entering the main track. The Amtrak train derailed fewer than 300 feet after it hit the derailing device.

Investigators say the reversed switch sent the passenger train into a rail yard, stopping just 21 feet from the empty freight hopper car that was stored on the track. All in all, 174 people were on board the passenger train, 10 of whom were injured.

Officials don't know why the switcher was set to send the train into the rail yard. The NTSB first told NewsCenter 16 it could be April before they know all the details.

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