According to the Associated Press, a 100-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe train left the tracks in Cleburne, south of Dallas. The line was carrying coal from the Powder River Basin coalfields in Wyoming and was headed for the WA Parish power plant near Houston.
Officials told the news service the derailment, which occurred at about 6.45am local time, led to coal spillage from 44 cars. BNSF spokesperson Joe Faust added that details of the cause of the accident were not yet available.
The accident is one of a handful recorded recently. On September 28, 21 cars from a 107-car train left the tracks in Nicholson County, Kentucky. The line was owned by TTI Railroad and the cause is still under investigation.
The Appalachian derailment followed a pair of western coalfield incidents in a 24-hour period, both involving BNSF trains.
According to the AP, 21 cars were involved in an accident on a side connection September 25 near Gillette, Wyoming. All of the cars remained upright and no coal was lost.
On September 24, 13 cars on the Montana Hi-Line left the tracks near Glasgow, Montana. All of the cars remained upright in that incident as well.
BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas told the news service that investigations into both events had commenced and that sabotage did not appear to be a factor in either.
