Map graphic of accident site in Washington, DC.

​​​Map of accident site in Washington, DC.

CSX Transportation Employee Fatalities at Ivy City

What Happened

​​On June 27, 2017, at 11:18 p.m. eastern daylight time, two CSX Transportation (CSX) employees (conductor and conductor trainee) were struck and killed by southbound Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) train P175 at Amtrak milepost (MP) 134.5 in Ivy City, a small neighborhood in Northeast Washington, DC. The two employees were on the track walking toward the front of their southbound train after inspecting a railcar with elevated temperature reported by a track-side detector. Their backs were to the approaching southbound Amtrak train when they were struck. At the time of the accident, the sky was clear; visibility was 10 miles, and the temperature was 64°F. Additional ambient lighting was provided by a nearby Amtrak maintenance yard.

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What We Found

​​We determin​ed that the probable cause of the accident was the CSX Transportation train Q137 crew’s decision to walk near an active track without protection. Contributing to the accident was their focus on northbound Amtrak train P66 and their failure to realize Amtrak train P175 was approaching them from behind.

What We Recommended

​We made a recommendation to CSX Transportation and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.​​

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