Freight Train Derailment Shuts Down D.C. Commuter Line The Associated Press Published: Apr 25, 2001

POINT OF ROCKS, Md. (AP) - A freight train derailed near the nation's capital, shutting down service on a main commuter rail line on Wednesday. Commuters who use the MARC Brunswick line, which runs from western Maryland into Washington, were forced to drive because of the derailment.

Twenty-four cars on the CSX Corp. rail line went off the tracks at about 10:25 p.m. Tuesday about a mile east of Point of Rocks. No one was hurt.

Two of the derailed cars were carrying some hazardous materials, but the material did not leak from the cars, said CSX spokesman Rob Gould.

Service was not expected to be restored by the evening rush hour on the line, which carries about 5,000 riders a day, said Frank Fulton, a MARC spokesman.

The 88-car train was headed from Cumberland, Md., to Richmond, Va. The cause of the derailment is under investigation, CSX said.

AP-ES-04-25-01 0719EDT

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001