INDIANAPOLIS — A broken rail led to the derailment that sent several cars off an overpass and onto an Indianpolis roadway earlier this month, CSX Transportation told the Indianapolis Star.
The broken rail in the railroad’s Hawthorne Yard in southeastern Indianapolis led to a six-car derailment about 6:35 p.m. on April 6, with five cars falling onto Southeastern Boulevard. Four of the cars were empty; the other two spilled cornstarch that covered the roadway [see “CSX cars derail …,” Trains News Wire, April 7, 2025].
The bridge will require some repairs, a CSX representative told the newspaper, but the company has “no concerns on its structural integrity.”
It looks like the bridge lacked guard rails between the running rails on the bridge. Those might have prevented the cars from falling off the bridge and minimize the damages. Thankfully the cars didn’t fall on any vehicles.