Earlier this month, an Amtrak passenger train traveling through rural southwestern Kansas and bound for Chicago derailed, injuring 32 people. A formal investigation is underway, but early reports show that officials with the National Transportation Safety Board suspect that a misalignment in an otherwise straight track is to blame. 

Amtrak’s Southwest Chief Train 4 is believed to have been traveling near the posted speed limit of 60 miles per hour when seven coaches derailed shortly after midnight. Of the 131 passengers and 14 crew aboard, 32 were treated at hospitals in Dodge City and Garden City. Fortunately, 29 had been released by midmorning. While Amtrak and NTSB officials aren’t releasing details on patients’ conditions, an early statement from Amtrak sais that there were no life-threatening injuries, thanks in large part to an alert train engineer.

"The engineer, apparently from what we understand, was quite vigilant: noticed that there was something wrong with the tracks; put the train into emergency braking early in that process; and that was probably responsible for the train derailment not being any worse than it was," said the NTSB’s Earl Weener.

The accident occurred on track owned by Fort Worth, TX-based BNSF Railway and NTSB officials confirm that the track had been inspected per protocol less than a week before the derailment. Still, railway companies are responsible for assuring that tracks are safe for passenger and freight trains every day. If you suffer an injury while traveling by rail and believe that an unsafe track is to blame, call 888-519-RAIL to speak with a railroad injury lawyer with Jacksonville’s Rail Justice.