FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. — A railroad company knew that railroad tracks were broken hours before a train derailed in Tyrone, police said.
In a Tyrone Police Department report submitted March 25 at 12:26 p.m., an officer wrote, “I shut down the road in this area and contacted CSX. They were advised to stop all trains from traveling through this intersection until they could get a technician out to evaluate the rail and have it repaired.”
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Police body camera video shows another officer at the tracks before noon. He tells his colleagues, “Make sure they call [expletive] CSX. Do not send a [expletive] train over here.”
Another officer called dispatch at 12:06 p.m. and said, “Two pieces of the rail out of the track. CSX has been contacted. Just letting you know if you get a bunch of calls.”
By 12:18 p.m., crews put a cone over the broken track, opened up the road, and left.
By 4:00 p.m., officers were back when the train derailed.
Will Mims works where the train crashed. He watched the body camera video that indicates CSX had plenty of warning ahead of time.
“Playing with people’s lives. This is a very busy train track all day,” Mims said.
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In response to the new video and police reports, CSX sent the same statement it sent one day after the derailment:
“The reports are accurate. Every day we work with law enforcement and emergency response personnel throughout our extensive network and have good communication with matters like this. Our team is conducting a thorough investigation of the incident to implement improved measures to ensure this does not happen again. We’ve spoken with Mayor Dial, and we’re committed to working with the City of Tyrone as our investigation continues. We’re grateful for the first responders who quickly reported to the scene following the incident, and we’re thankful that there were no injuries.”
“It’s kind of a slap in the face,” Mims said.
Mims wants to know who could have prevented the danger. He said he and his co-workers are enduring mental stress now. They’re worried about their building’s foundation and want an update on the track repairs.
We are waiting to see if CSX follows up with neighbors.
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