New Jersey Train Accident Lawyers

New Jersey Train Derailed While Crossing Portal Bridge

On November 23, 1996, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train No. 12 derailed while crossing Portal Bridge, a swing bridge spanning the Hackensack River in Secaucus, New Jersey. When the train derailed, it sideswiped Amtrak train No. 79, which was crossing the bridge in the opposite direction on an adjacent track. No fatalities resulted, but 42 passengers and crewmembers aboard train No. 12 were injured, as was 1 passenger aboard train No. 79. Estimated cost of the damaged train, track, and signal equipment and site cleanup exceeded $3.6 million.

The two primary safety issues discussed in this report are:
(1) Amtrak management oversight of the inspection, maintenance, and repair of the miter rail assemblies on Portal Bridge.
(2) the effectiveness of Amtrak’s emergency notification procedures.
The Safety Board also examined the effectiveness of Amtrak locomotive event recorders in capturing critical operational
data.

All the fractures and cracks were located near the beginning point of the notch where the width of the side bar changed from the full width along the miter rail to the reduced width (to accommodate the base flange) along the running rail. This was also the area where the bottom edge of the side bar transitioned from straight (along the miter rail) to beveled (along the running rail, to clear the base flange). The engineering drawings for the side bars showed the beginning of the notch as a straight cut resulting in a 90° transition. Side bars E and F displayed such a straight, right-angle cut, but the beginning point of the notches on bars A, B, C, and D had the appearance of a curved chamfer. Because of cracking and fracturing, investigators could not obtain an exact measurement of the radii of any of the notch transitions.

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