Nearly 40 empty train cars derail in Arizona

(Reuters) - Nearly 40 empty train cars derailed in southern Arizona late on Monday but no one was hurt, a spokesman for Union Pacific said. The three-locomotive train was hauling 107 cars to Los Angeles from Houston when the accident happened near Picacho Peak in Pinal County, spokesman Mark Davis said by email on Tuesday. The cause of the derailment is under investigation, Davis added. Thirty-nine rail cars carrying empty ocean-going containers were derailed, Davis said. "Crews continue to work to remove the rail cars that derailed from the track and are beginning to replace track that was damaged as the result of the derailment," he said. One track will have 80 feet of track replaced and will be open for train traffic by 5 p.m. PDT, he added. The other needs about 1,000 feet of track replacing, and is expected to be open to trains by noon on Wednesday. An average of 40 trains a day operate over this section of track, Davis said. (Reporting by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Will Dunham and Sandra Maler)