Railway safety in Cheyenne, Union Pacific's 'quintessential railroad town'

Oct. 19—CHEYENNE — Cheyenne is described as "the quintessential railroad town" by Union Pacific Railroad, and anyone who drives through the state capital is bound to come across one or two railway lines.

Some of these railroads cross over main streets, such as the two railroad bridges located over I-80 just outside of town. During a year where train derailments have been making the headlines, the most recent of which involving a bridge collapse across I-25 this past weekend, concerns over railway safety continue to rise.

A report by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows the number of train accidents since 2000 has sharply declined — yet recent derailments this year, such as in Ohio and Montana, have raised advocacy efforts to address railway safety at the federal level.

The most recent incident involved a train carrying coal across a bridge over I-25, just north of Pueblo, Colorado. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that a broken rail had caused the accident, which resulted in a collapsed bridge and killed one truck driver.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the company that owns the railroad the train was traveling on, did not immediately respond to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's request for comment.

BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad are the two major companies that operate the railway system in Wyoming, with Union Pacific Railroad responsible for a majority of the railroads that cross through Cheyenne.

A UP representative said they are continuously looking for ways to improve railway safety.

"Our investments in our infrastructure and our robust inspection underscores our commitment to safety and providing reliable service to our customers," said Robynn Tysver, a UP communications manager, in an email.

The latest investment involved the installation of over 7,000 wayside detectors to "monitor the condition of freight cars and locomotives in real time," according to a UP article. The function of these detectors is to monitor wheel temperatures, wheel impact, sound signatures of train bearings and machine vision systems.

All UP-owned tracks are installed with these detectors, and these alerts help UP officials efficiently and quickly respond to any potential railroad hazards. The engineering team also physically inspects every inch of the 4.5 million miles of track laid across the continent every year.

Sen. Mike Gireau, D-Jackson, emphasized the importance of railway safety across the state as train derailments continue to become a center of concern.

"We need to be vigilant," Gireau said. "It's something that the public wants us to do. It's our responsibility to make sure that, when folks travel on roadways through Wyoming, they're going to be safe."

State efforts to ensure safer railways

The Powder River Basin, which overlaps the northeastern part of Wyoming and the southeastern part of Montana, contains the world's largest coal deposit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Coal is transported out of PRB via two railroads, one operated by Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the other by Union Pacific.

In the 2023 general legislative session, Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, sponsored a bill that would cap train lengths at 8,500 feet. Although the bill died in committee, Chestek said he hoped this would be a selected as an interim study topic next year and brought back as a sponsored bill in 2025.

"Incidents like the one in Pueblo, and the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this year, do serve to highlight the need for stricter rail safety rules," Chestek said in an email to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. "One of the problems of overlong (and overweight) trains is that they put more dynamic load on the rails. Over time, this additional stress can cause damage to the rails, which could be at least a contributing cause of the failure of the rail which caused this derailment."

National calls to address railway safety

When an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Montana over two years ago, the combined issue of a worn rail, vertical track deflection, subgrade instability and track misalignment was determined to cause the derailment, according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation.

NTSB issued three new safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration as a result of the investigation, which addressed "limitations of track inspection practices, autonomous monitoring system and treatment of maintenance rails installed."

Calls for railway safety have increased significantly since a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed earlier this year in East Palestine, Ohio. An NTSB investigation of the derailment in early February reported 38 derailed cars had caught on fire, 11 of which were carrying hazardous materials.

Congressional members were sent a letter from national organizations, governors, mayors and county officials to pass the bipartisan Railway Safety Act, which was introduced by Ohio and Pennsylvania senators following the derailment.

"We urge your support of S. 576, the Railway Safety Act of 2023, which would help ensure rail moves more safely through our communities," the letter read. "In light of recent devastating freight train derailments, we strongly believe that now is the time for Congress to act and pass S. 576 which makes significant strides toward improving railway safety."

Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.