GRAND JUNCTION, Iowa (AP) – A Union Pacific Railroad coal train has collided with another train carrying cargo containers in central Iowa derailing 20 cars and shutting down a section of the company’s mainline track. The collision is near Grand Junction. Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis says about seven cars on the coal train are off the track and 13 cars of the intermodal train -which carries ocean-going containers on flatbed cars – derailed. The cause of the collision at about 6:50 a.m. (Thursday) is not immediately clear. Investigators are on site.
Davis says the derailment has halted traffic on main tracks between Chicago and the company’s Iowa and Nebraska destinations. If tracks cannot be cleared soon trains will be detoured around the wreckage. No injuries are reported.