Amtrak employee sues over fatal derailment on Montana's Hi Line

Amtrak employee sues over fatal derailment on Montana's Hi-Line.

An Amtrak on-board service attendant, injured while assisting survivors of an Amtrak train derailment in September on the Montana Hi-Line near Joplin, is suing his employer and BNSF Railway for negligence.

Tarrick Peyton filed suit in the US. District Court in Great Falls alleging Amtrak and BNSF were negligent in causing not only the accident but exacerbating the fallout afterwards by not providing the training and tools needed to respond to the crash, by not discovering the track’s defect and not operating the train safely among other allegations.

Peyton alleges he received three weeks of training before starting work in August 2021 and none of it focused on what to do in the event of a derailment or how to help surviving passengers and crew.

A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board in October said the cause of the crash was still under investigation but the train’s emergency brake had been deployed.

The westbound Empire Builder was carrying 154 people when it derailed on Sept. 25 just west of the small Hi-Line town of Joplin, according to the NTSB. Forty-four passengers and crew were taken to local hospitals with injuries and three were killed. Damage was estimated by Amtrak to be over $22 million.

As the Empire Builder cruised west across Montana’s Hi-Line, Peyton sat in the second car behind the engines when he felt a hard bump, the suit alleged. Before starting with Amtrak, Peyton had worked as an engineer with Union Pacific Railroad, and he claimed he recognized the bump as an indication of a derailment. He reflexively rose from his seat before a “violent jolt” threw him against the wall. He hit his back, shoulder and head, court filings stated.

At the time of the crash, the NTSB reported the train's event log showed the train travelling between 75 and 78 mph. The max allowable speed for the section of rail where the crash occurred was 79 mph.

Following the crash, Peyton immediately started checking on the passengers in his car and determined no one was injured, the suit said. He looked out over the last few cars of the train and saw that four cars had tipped off the track and were lying on their sides.

Peyton jumped from his car and went to assist survivors. He directed distraught passengers to avoid using the windows to crawl out of the wreckage and guided them to the doors.

Amid the wreckage of the observation car, Peyton said he encountered the body of Zach Schneider lying dead on the ground. He tried to cover his corpse. Later, Peyton claimed, he prayed with Zach Schneider's wife after officials told her that her husband had perished in the crash.

Peyton encountered the gruesome scene of another passenger whose head had been gashed open in the crash.

Despite the shock of the scene outside the railcar, Peyton climbed into the observation car to assist the car's conductor in helping passengers, the suit said. Inside he discovered the bodies of Don and Marjorie Vardahoe.

Peyton said he had befriended the couple on the train earlier and he knew they had been celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a long-planned cross-country train ride.

As Peyton continued to free and rescue passengers from the toppled cars, he claimed he only saw two other employees actively helping to aid passengers. After an hour of assisting survivors, Peyton said he was exhausted, in pain and vomiting. He was examined by an EMT and sent to the hospital in Fort Benton, the suit alleges.

Since the accident, Peyton claims to have been diagnosed with a head injury, shoulder injury, injuries to the discs, nerves and connective tissue in his lower back and with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. His injuries may require surgery.

“As a result of his injuries, [Peyton] has incurred economic losses, among them lost income, lost pension benefits and medical bills and will suffer economic losses in the future,” the suit stated.

“[Peyton] has suffered from pain and distress caused by his injuries and will continue to suffer from pain and distress in the future.”

Paul Bovarnick, Peyton’s lead attorney said in a statement that the deadly crash should have never happened and that the loss of life and injuries could have been avoided. “Amtrak and BNSF must be held accountable for ignoring vital safety measures that caused fatal and life-altering consequences," Bovarnick said.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the company was aware of the lawsuit. “We’ll review and respond in the appropriate channels,” he said.

A spokesperson for BNSF said the railroad doesn't comment on pending litigation.

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Reference
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