​On February 9, 2022, about 10:57 a.m. local time, a BNSF Railway switchman was struck and killed by a train during a switching movement on Track 116 in the BNSF Globeville Yard in Denver, Colorado. The switchman, working as a remote control operator helper, was riding on the front center platform of the lead locomotive he was controlling remotely, BNSF 1961. The train suddenly decelerated, and the remote control operator helper fell forward onto the track, where he was struck by the locomotive he was riding.

We ​determined that the probable cause of the February 9, 2022, BNSF Railway remote control operator helper fatality was being struck by remote-control locomotive BNSF 1961 after falling from the locomotive’s front platform into the tracks when slack action in the train consist caused a sudden deceleration of the locomotive.​