NTSB: 2 CSX crew members were inspecting train when killed by passing Amtrak train

WASHINGTON — The two CSX rail workers who were struck and killed by an Amtrak train on a clear night last month were walking along the tracks after inspecting their own train, federal investigators said Tuesday.

The CSX conductor and trainee had their backs to Amtrak train 175 when the accident occurred June 27 at 11:18 p.m. in Washington, D.C., according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The CSX crew members had been out of their southbound train to inspect the axle of a car in their train because of a track side warning that the wheels or bearings of a car had overheated, investigators said.

The accident occurred in the middle of a stretch of four sets of tracks, two for CSX and two for Amtrak, at a place where the freight and passenger tracks narrow together.

The crew members were 350 feet from their locomotive between the freight and passenger tracks when two Amtrak trains — 175 and 66 — approached from opposite directions, investigators said.

Both Amtrak engineers sounded their horns when they saw the crew members on the tracks, investigators said. Southbound Train 175 was going 73 mph when it struck the CSX crew members, they said.

The NTSB hasn’t come to any conclusions about what caused the accident. The investigation could take months longer before determining a cause and making recommendations to avoid a similar accident.