ACE commuter train to resume service Wednesday after derailment
ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KTVU) - Workers removed the two derailed ACE train cars that derailed in Niles Canyon Monday night, one of which was partially submerged into Alameda Creek. Authorities said Tuesday that it was a mudslide, likely from recent heavy rains, and a fallen tree that may have triggered the train to derail.
Nine people were injured, four of them suffered serious injuries.
Investigators told KTVU that preliminary findings indicate that the Altamont Corridor Express train hit a mudslide on the tracks, causing the first rail car to roll into Alameda Creek. The rail car began to flood.
An Alameda County Sheriff's official said it was a miracle that no one died.
On Tuesday, work crews were trying to clear the mud and remove the damaged train cars using a crane.
All train service on the line which runs between San Jose and Stockton was canceled Tuesday, but officials confirmed trains would be running by Wednesday.
An ACE train spokesperson told KTVU another train passed through the area an hour prior to the derailment without any problems. Rod Diridon, a founding trustee of the ACE train service, said it doesn't appear the operator was at fault.
"He was under the speed limit so he was doing the right thing but when you come around a turn and that tree is right across the tracks right in front of the trai -you can't stop that big train in time," said Diridon.
The ACE train 10 was headed from San Jose to Stockton traveling northeast between Fremont and Pleasanton with 214 passengers onboard when the derailment happened around 7:35 p.m. Monday.
The nine injured passengers were taken to Washington Hospital in Fremont and Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley.
The National Transportation Safety Board is working with local investigators on the derailment.
Ace 10 has been derailed in Niles Canyon. Emergency personnel has been dispatched. https://t.co/XrVw221xgq