At approximately 4:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a call of two trains that had just derailed near the Pine Church Road/2500 NE 175th Street Road crossing in Citra. When units got on scene along with Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR), they discovered that two CSX Freight Trains and multiple rail cars had derailed from the tracks. Four people were involved in the incident— two operators being in each locomotive.
According to CSX, one train was transporting non-hazardous phosphate rock and the other was loaded with coal. There is no immediate hazmat threat to the public at this time. CSX is working to confirm the number of derailed rail cars. Initial reports indicate that diesel fuel has been released from one or more of the locomotives. CSX environmental experts are on scene to assess and contain any product releases. MCSO, MCFR and CSX representatives are all assessing the situation and developing an action plan. The cause of the collision is currently under investigation.
The phosphate train was traveling from Mulberry, Florida, to Chicago with three locomotives and 100 loaded phosphate cars. The coal train was traveling from Pembroke, Kentucky, to Tampa with three locomotives and 110 loaded cars of coal.
“I’ve spoken with the head of the Federal Railroad Administration, Sarah Feinberg, and she’s assured me that the agency will conduct a thorough investigation. As soon as we find out what happen, we’ll look at what can be done to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
