Amtrak Sues Kansas Feed Yard Over Damaged Tracks, Derailment

Amtrak has filed a federal lawsuit against a southwest Kansas feed yard, accusing it of gross negligence in relation to a train derailment that injured 28 passengers last month. In the suit filed Friday by Amtrak and BNSF, the plaintiffs allege Cimarron Crossing Feeders failed to notify the railroad or law enforcement after one of the company’s trucks slammed into the railroad road bed and displaced the tracks by more than a foot. The lawsuit claims the truck was being loaded with grain when Cimarron’s employees left it unattended on March 13, out of gear and without any brakes applied. It rolled downhill, crossed over U.S. 50 and slammed into the tracks.