WASHINGTON Federal investigators are focusing on a recently repaired piece of equipment as they probe the cause of last week’s train derailment in Bridgeport.
A team from the National Transportation Safety Board left Bridgeport Thursday, the agency stated in a press release Friday. One of the things the team learned is that a joint bar which was used to join two sections of rail in the area of the derailment had been cracked and repaired in April, it states.
The bar and sections of rail have been removed and are being shipped to the NTSB lab in Washington.
An eastbound train derailed last Friday, came to a stop and was struck about 20 seconds later by a westbound train, the release states.
The resulting collision injured more than 70 and tore up 2,000 feet of track. The tracks were fixed and full service was restored Wednesday.