Report: Rules violations led to runaway train

A CSX employee boards the train before bringing it to a halt

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Multiple rules violations by employees led to a May 15 runaway train incident through Ohio, according to federal investigators who now have filed a report on the incident.

"The safety equipment worked normally," said Dave Myers, the Philadelphia regional administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency investigating the incident.

Myers told CNN "it was a failure on the part of the employee," namely, the engineer, that allowed the CSX Transportation train, under power, to leave a yard and travel 72 miles with no one on board.

The incident report was filed Monday.

VIDEO A runaway train in Ohio is slowed enough for CSX employee Jon Hosfeld to jump on and bring it to a halt (May 15) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

The climax of the incident was captured on television when a CSX employee with experience jumping on moving trains did so and brought the train to a halt.

No one was injured during the two-hour, unpiloted trip through the Ohio countryside. Police who blocked traffic at numerous railroad crossings had clocked the train at speeds up to 47 miles per hour.

Myers said CSX was not likely to be fined for the actions of its employees who were supposed to be in charge of the train.

He said that, to his knowledge, this was the first time a train has ever left a yard unpiloted and under power. Most runaway trains come as the result of brake failure on steep grades.

"I've been around this business 25 years and have had to deal with a fair number of runaways," Myers said. He added that "we view it as a once-in-a-career type of event," since systems are in place to prevent such an incident.