City Officials to Discuss Train Derailment Response

Freight trains are running along the track that saw a derailment Monday near Hoover Forest Preserve, but Poplar Drive might not be fully open until Friday, Yorkville officials said.

were derailed Monday evening, and the clean-up contractors left a pile of gravel on Poplar Drive that limited traffic on the road, which is the only access to homes north of the railroad tracks.

Yorkville Deputy Police Chief Larry Hilt spoke with a foreman on the site about 2 p.m. Thursday.

“He didn’t know for sure when they would be done," Hilt said.

Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson said contractors might not have realized initially there wasn't another access road for those residents. Here's an update Olson provided Thursday afternoon:

Yorkville staff has made contact with members of the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Division of Rail Safety, Federal Railroad Administration, and National Transportation Safety Board in an effort to gather the latest details on each agency’s actions and findings of the Illinois Railnet derailment on Jan. 23. 

The ICC has commented that they do not get involved with rail accidents until the FRA directs them to investigate.  At time of phone call, the ICC individual was not aware of the derailment.  The employee did comment that all mainline tracks are inspected by the ICC at a minimum once per year, and that track inspection reports would likely be available for this particular piece of track. 

The FRA commented this morning that they are not currently investigating this incident, but that they were aware of the accident due to local media coverage.  Depending on the severity of the incident (casualties, property damage, environmental hazards), the reporting requirements and FRA response time varies.  The railroad is required to report the accident to the FRA.  CIty staff has managed to find the attached federal code, which we believe is the governing law for the reporting requirements for train accidents.  No comment has yet been provided from the National Transportation Safety Board.

As a result of this incident, the Mayor and City Council have scheduled a discussion on this incident and our potential responses for future events for the Public Safety Committee meeting on Thursday, February 2nd at 6:30 pm in the City Hall conference room.  The packet for that meeting will be available this Friday afternoon.  The specific discussion at the meeting will focus on the latest details of the incident and response by governmental entities.

We are aware that the residents of River’s Edge subdivision are being inconvenienced of a prompt crossing on a daily basis as cleanup continues, and in one  case the crossing has been blocked for more than 30 minutes.  Under federal law, the regulation of blockages of rail-roadway crossings is given to the states. 

The State of Illinois currently has no law restricting the amount of time that a railway crossing may be blocked.  However, as blockages occur, we ask that residents call police dispatch to report the matter.  In emergency situations, this can help the City’s and BKFD’s response time.  In non-emergency situations, and as call volume allows, police officers can assist the blockage by communicating with the railway cleanup crew. 

Editor's note: The federal code Olson referenced is attached to this article as a PDF.