​At 10:52 p.m. on June 22, 1997, Union Pacific Railroad (UP) freight trains 5981 North and 9186 South collided head-on in Devine, Texas. The trains were operating on a single main track with passing sidings in dark (nonsignalized) territory in which train movement was governed by conditional track warrant control authority through a dispatcher. The conductor from 5981 North, the engineer from 9186 South, and two unidentified individuals who may have been riding on 5981 North were killed in the derailment and subsequent fire. The engineer from 5981 North received minor injuries, and the conductor from 9186 South was seriously burned. Estimated damages exceeded $6 million.

We ​​determined that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the third-shift dispatcher to communicate the correct track warrant information to the traincrew and to verify the ​accuracy of the read-back information because the Union Pacific Railroad management had not established and implemented workload policies and operational procedures to ensure a safe dispatching system and the Federal Railroad Administration had failed to provide standards and oversight in all aspects of train dispatching operations. Contributing to the accident was the lack of an installed positive train separation control system that would have prevented the trains from colliding by automatically intervening in their operation because of inappropriate actions being taken.​

​​We made recommendations to the UP, the FRA, and the Texas Railroad Commission. In addition, we reiterated a safety recommendation to the FRA.​