ROMULUS, Mich. — Fourteen cars of a CSX Transportation freight train derailed in the Detroit suburb of Romulus today (Thursday, Nov. 2), leading to the closure of two schools “out of an abudance of caution,” the city’s mayor said.
No injuries were reported and no leaks or spills resulted from the derailment about 10 a.m., a CSX spokesman told the Detroit Free Press. One car in the 97-car train was placarded for a hazardous material, molten sulfur, but CSX said that car was empty. Most of the train’s cars were empty, Romulus Mayor Robert A. McCraight said in a statement. The derailment blocked grade crossings at Wick and Tobine roads, and those roads could remain closed into Friday.
Wick Elementary School and Romulus Middle School were closed as a precaution and “to limit the distraction from the heavy equipment that will be operating in the area,” said Hugh McDairmid Jr., spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
CSX spokesman Bryan Tucker told the newspaper the railroad would conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the derailment, but that “right now we’re focused on the recovery and restoration of the area.”
This is the third train derailment in two years in Romulus.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
This is close to the site of a Norfolk Southern (the former Wabash Railroad) derailment a few months ago, in both cases a bit west of Metro Airport. No wonder people are getting sick of it.