Quantico, Va. – Train service between Washington and Richmond should be restored this afternoon.
Officials with CSX, the owners of the rail line, say repairs should be completed this afternoon and train traffic on the rails will be able to return to normal.
Word of the repairs should come as good news to those waiting to board trains last night, bound for points south of Washington. Because the coal cars that derailed blocked both tracks at Quantico, all train service between Richmond and Washington was cancelled. Most other trains that normally travel the corridor, from New York to points in North Carolina and Florida were also cancelled.
The derailment also forced Virginia Railway Express to cancel all service on the Fredericksburg line today.
Crews worked overnight and into the morning to repair the train tracks that traverse Quantico Marine Corps base, where a 79-car coal derailed bound for Newport News derailed about 3 p.m. Thursday.
The work has been tedious, but crews have been successful in repairing the line.
“What they will do is either replace the rail or bring in assembled pieces of track,” said CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan. “Afterwards, they’ll have to come in later and replace that track with regular rails, but full service should be restored this afternoon.”
It’s not clear what caused the derailment on the tracks.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the region on Thursday as the temperatures combined with the humidity made it feel like 103 degrees outside.
CSX normally issues “slow orders” for trains on hot days where the temperatures reach 90 degrees or above, as the rails can perform differently as trains move over them on hot days.
Sullivan said an investigation that is still underway should reveal the cause of the derailment.
The derailed train left a mangled mess or rail cars and ruined rail track near Quantico’s air field Thursday afternoon.
Crews from CSX were on the scene following the derailment, mounting the early stages of a clean up.
Information from insidenova.com.
