BUCKLAND — Town officials are calling for an immediate railway emergency notification system as questions persist after an early morning train derailment Dec. 18.
Selectboard Chairman Rob Riggan touched on the issue during the board’s Tuesday’s meeting. He said State Rep. Stephen Kulik is now managing the issue.
Riggan and others had continued questions about the delay, but said he had received a timeline from the Pan Am Railways saying they had followed the company’s internal policies. However, going forward, members expressed a need for a more immediate notification from the railway company.
According to Pan Am, an eastbound train carrying 114 grain cars derailed about 2:40 a.m. beyond the Elm Street railroad crossing on the Buckland side of Shelburne Falls. The derailment affected the last four cars on the train.
“The last two cars tipped over and the others are still upright,” said Pan Am spokeswoman Cynthia Scarano. “They’re investigating the cause at the moment,” she said Monday. No one was injured, but both the railroad crossings at Ashfield Street and at Elm Street were badly damaged, with twisted rails and broken chunks of pavement.
According to Riggan, the State Police dispatcher was notified at 5:57 a.m., and the town’s police chief was told at about 6:20.
Pam Am did not notify any state or local agencies until several hours after the derailment. Riggan said two intersections were not closed immediately, and one person drove over the damaged tracks at the Elm Street intersection and had a concussion from hitting the roof of his car.
Selectboard member Kevin Fox said that he had ongoing concerns about how well the railway is maintaining the tracks. He estimated that there had been at least three other derailments in the last 10 years.
“The larger concern is the frequency of these derailments,” Fox said, adding that frequency could create greater possibility of a chemical spill if a train derailed with chemical or toxic cargo.
“We are lucky it was a grain train,” Selectboard member Dena Willmore said.