WADENA - A broken rail has been determined as the cause of a 32-car derailment on the BNSF Railway line four miles northwest of Wadena on Dec. 1.
BNSF recently wrapped up a two-month investigation into the derailment which spilled sugar and sugar products near Bluffton in Otter Tail County.
The BNSF report had to be submitted to the regional office of the Federal Railroad Administration by Jan. 31. A separate investigation by the feds is nearly complete, said FRA public affairs specialist Mike England.
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“We may or may not issue violations or fines,” England said. “I don’t think that has been determined.”
England confirmed that broken rails are one of the top reasons for train accidents.
No one was injured in the derailment which occurred at 6:32 a.m. on a Monday morning and closed two sections of track. The freight train was eastbound from Grand Forks, N.D., to Minneapolis. Work crews had both lines open for rail traffic by Thursday. A few empty oil tanker cars were on the train.
