NTSB: UP conductor too close to track when killed by Metra train

The conductor of a northbound Union Pacific Railroad train was struck and killed by a southbound Metra train in September 2024 after the conductor stepped too close to the track on which the Metra train was traveling, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined.

In a report issued last month, NTSB investigators concluded the UP conductor was struck after fouling the adjacent track for unknown reasons. The Sept. 4, 2024, accident occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There were no other fatalities or injuries.

Contributing to the accident was the failure of the UP train crew to conduct a comprehensive job briefing that would have alerted the conductor to the risks he was facing while in the foul of the track waiting to conduct a wheel inspection, according to the NTSB.

Also contributing was the failure of the engineer and student engineer of the UP train to maintain situational awareness of the conditions outside of the locomotive, which would have enabled them to provide warning to the conductor, via the radio, of the approaching Metra train.

After the accident, UP issued an incident alert to its employees discussing the circumstances of the accident and reminding them of applicable rules that must be adhered to in order to prevent this type of accident. At the time of this accident, UP did not require track breach protection on the Kenosha subdivision.

A week after the accident, UP updated its system special instructions for track breach protection, which restricts trains from moving within the area, to be in effect where railroad employees are working on the ground, enabling them to safely occupy the area between the tracks on the Kenosha subdivision, according to the NTSB.

The board's report can be reviewed here.