NTSB Number RAR-03/02
NTIS Number PB2003-916302
PDF Document(2.3 MB)

Executive Summary: About 5:08 p.m. eastern daylight time on April 18, 2002, northbound National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train P052-18, the Auto Train, derailed 21 of 40 cars on CSX Transportation (CSXT) track near Crescent City, Florida. The train derailed in a left-hand curve while traveling about 56 mph. The train was carrying 413 passengers and 33 Amtrak employees. The derailment resulted in 4 fatalities, 36 serious injuries, and 106 minor injuries. The equipment and track costs associated with the accident totaled about $8.3 million.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the April 18, 2002, derailment of Amtrak Auto Train P052-18 near Crescent City, Florida, was a heat-induced track buckle that developed because of inadequate CSX Transportation track-surfacing operations, including misalignment of the curve, insufficient track restraint, and failure to reestablish an appropriate neutral rail temperature.

The safety issues addressed in the report are:

• Continuous welded rail temperature control,
• Continuous welded rail restraint, including ballast and rail anchors,
• Continuous welded rail maintenance procedures and standards,
• Means of end-of-train device activation,
• Amtrak passenger accountability procedures, and
• Securement of folding armchairs on Amtrak Superliner sleeper cars.

Other items discussed in the report include:

• Suitability of the Auto Train consist and
• Crashworthiness of Superliner passenger car windows.

As a result of its investigation of this accident, the Safety Board makes safety recommendations to CSXT, Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the Transportation Security Administration.