Train movement resumed on the rail line in Sibley, Iowa, on May 19 at 11:30 a.m. CT, Union Pacific Spokesperson Robynn Tysver told Green Markets. The halt to rail traffic followed a train derailment and subsequent fire at around 2:00 pm CT on May 16.
“All the derailed cars were removed from the track Tuesday morning. It will take some time to totally remove all the train’s cars from the site, but they are off the track,” she said. Some 47 cars derailed.
She said the company’s efforts have now transitioned to remediating the site.
Union Pacific on May 17 had warned the derailment was set to cause delays of up to three days for its customers with shipments in that area, according to a notice from the company.
The rail route through the middle of crop country hosts trains carrying “anything and everything, from agricultural products to lumber to chemicals,” said Union Pacific spokesperson Kristen South, according to a Bloomberg report.
There were no reports of injuries or fatalities as a result of the incident, but about 80 people in Sibley, some 200 miles northwest of Des Moines, were ordered to evacuate their homes shortly after the derailment. The fire was reported to have continued to burn into the following morning.
Among the affected rail cars, some were carrying asphalt, hydrochloric acid, and potassium hydroxide, according to Tysver, also cited by The New York Times.
One of the cars had carried liquid ammonium nitrate, but it was empty at the time of the incident. However, according to the report, Tysver said there was likely residue inside the cars. Initial reports warned that ammonium nitrate was carried by the train.
The train was heading from South St. Paul, Minn. to North Platte, Neb., according to South. The cause of the derailment is still being investigated, but South said reports that a collapsed bridge had caused the derailment were incorrect.