The death of a rail conductor is under investigation after he was hit by a train Sunday in Montana, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
The conductor worked for BNSF Railway, which operates one of the largest freight railway networks in the US.
The man was hit at about 9:40 a.m. in Columbus, a town of about 2,000 people 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Billings.
Emergency response officials weren’t immediately sure what happened other than that an individual was between two trains, said Nick Jacobs, Columbus Fire Rescue’s assistant chief. One train was parked on one track and the other train was moving on another track, he said.
“And the moving one struck him somehow,” Jacobs said.
The NTSB and Federal Railroad Administration officials were at the scene, Jacobs said.
A spokesperson for BNSF said the company was referring all questions to the NTSB.
The identity of the deceased was not immediately released.
A report by the Federal Railroad Administration last year found BNSF was generally striving to improve safety on a consistent basis, but that message didn’t always reach front-line workers who often didn’t feel comfortable reporting safety concerns for fear of being disciplined.
The agency prepared the report as part of an effort to review all major railroads to address safety concerns after a 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
