This information is preliminary and subject to change.
On October 19, 2025, about 9:32 a.m. local time, a BNSF Railway (BNSF) conductor working in Columbus, Montana, was struck by a passing train and died.[1] The conductor was part of a crew sent out to operate westbound BNSF mixed-freight train H-ALTPAS1-13A, which was parked in the Columbus siding, which was adjacent and north of the main track around milepost 40.1 on BNSF’s MRL Second Subdivision.[2] At the time of the accident, visibility conditions were clear, and the weather was 39°F with no precipitation.
Just before the accident, the conductor was walking east between the siding track and the main track, releasing the handbrakes on the railcars of train H-ALTPAS1-13A. At the same time, empty BNSF grain train X-INBMCU9-17M was traveling eastbound about 37 mph on the main track.[3] The National Transportation Safety Board reviewed forward-facing video from the lead locomotive of train X-INBMCU9-17M, which showed the conductor walking in the foul of the main track just before the accident.[4] (See figure.) The engineer of train X-INBMCU9-17M sounded the horn upon observing the conductor and initiated an emergency application of the air brakes. The train then traveled about 232 feet before striking the conductor.
While on scene, the National Transportation Safety Board conducted accident reenactments, reviewed data from locomotive event recorders and inward- and outward-facing image recorders, inspected train equipment and track structures, conducted sight distance observations, reviewed BNSF’s policies and procedures, and completed interviews.
The investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on communications among railroad employees, crew qualifications and training, and railroad operating rules regarding safety around tracks.
Parties to the investigation include the Federal Railroad Administration; the State of Montana; BNSF; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.
- All times in this report are local.
- The subdivision was previously leased from BNSF by Montana Rail Link, which was acquired by BNSF in 2022.
- The maximum authorized speed for this segment of track is 60 mph.
- In the foul means close enough to a track to be struck by a moving train or within 4 feet of the nearest rail.
