A coal train derailed near Ashdown near U.S. 71 on Tuesday evening, the Arkansas Department of Transportation said.
Both north and southbound lanes were reduced to one lane “controlled by flaggers due to a train derailment just south of Ashdown,” the department said in a tweet Wednesday morning.
A report on iDriveArkansas.com also said Wednesday that the highway was closed.
“Emergency Closure due to KCS train derailment. Traffic is being directed thru turning lane,” the report said.
Kansas City Southern, KCS, is now combined with Canadian Pacific as CPKC.
“Today, we are CPKC and have created the first and only transnational rail network in North America,” the company’s website said.
“The train tracks are fairly close to the highway,” said Ellen Coulter, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation. “At one point there was a full temporary lane closure because they had to move some of the cars onto part of the highway in order to repair the track.”
This photo shows a coal train derailed in Ashdown near U.S. 71 on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Photo Courtesy of Darrell Thompson)Dave Parker, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation said nine cars were derailed and that workers were still cleaning it up as of Wednesday afternoon.
Coulter said the department did not know of any injuries as of Wednesday just before 1:15 p.m.
She said it could take up to a week to clean up all the coal.
Parker said the department didn't know what caused the derailment.