The Tonawanda Police Department has filed a complaint against CSX for what they are calling a significant inconvenience. The complaint stems from an incident on February 9th when a CSX train blocked traffic for several hours.
According to Lieutenant Thomas Haynes, CSX officials informed them the train was stopped because the crew operating the train had reached the maximum operating time limit allowable under federal regulations. The Police Chief, Jerome Uschold, is asking FRA to investigate the incident.
FRA confirmed they did receive the letter on Wednesday. A spokesperson from FRA stated “Our regional office communicated with both the Town of Tonawanda Police Chief and CSX Transportation, which we asked to look into this incident and take steps to prevent a future recurrence.” At this time there is not a regulation in place that limits the amount time a train is allowed to idle at a railroad crossing.
A representative of CSX said “We are reviewing our operations in the area, while also keeping an open line of communication with local officials in Tonawanda.Our goal is to serve our customers safely and efficiently while working to keep both rail and roadway traffic fluid.”
Tonawanda Police Chief, Jerry Ushold, issued a statement regarding the road being blocked. In that statement he said “A letter of complaint was sent to the Federal Railroad Administration, asking them to investigate the incident. We spoke to them Tuesday, and they indicated they were investigating, and the incident was “unacceptable”. CSX then contacted me yesterday, Thursday 2/22, and explained that this should not have happened. They said this was a miscommunication between the rail yard and the train operators, and that CSX will make every effort to prevent a reoccurrence. We did not find any malfeasance on the part of CSX, and as far as the TTPD is concerned, the matter is closed.”
