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WEBER CANYON — Two freight trains in Weber Canyon derailed Wednesday.
Just before 9:30 a.m., a Union Pacific train traveling through Weber Canyon near I-84 struck the rear railcar of another train, causing both to derail according to Union Pacific.
Five railcars and three locomotives derailed in the incident. A couple of cars spilled the grain contained in the cars and one locomotive released fuel it was carrying, Union Pacific spokesperson Aaron Hunt said.
Union Pacific hazardous materials teams were on scene and had contained the fuel, according to Hunt. No waterways were contaminated.
Three employees complained of leg pain, but no serious injuries occurred.
Cleanup could take up to 36 hours, Hunt said. Cranes and other heavy equipment was brought to the scene to clear the torn and crushed train cars, and Union Pacific hoped to have the rail line reopened and operational within a few days.
"We're basically an agency-assist at this point," said Lt. Chris Simmons. "They've got their own protocols and own teams that will come in and determine what they need to do, what cars need to be uprighted and which ones are safe to be on their right of way once this is cleaned up."
Currently, no cause for the crash has been identified. Hunt said it was a rare case for Union Pacific.
"Utah's a really important part of our business, we've invested $290 million in the state between 2007 and 2012. Those kinds of investments are just to enhance our infrastructure, to replace rail and ties, to modernize our rail facilities," he said. "This is a major hub for us. We have a lot of train traffic through the state. This kind of an incident is rare for us."
The highway had been closed except for one lane.
