Track Debris Derailed Cars

HAYWARD, Calif. — An Amtrak train bound for Seattle that derailed Wednesday struck a steel bar on the tracks, according to Union Pacific Railroad spokesman John Bromley.

Seven passengers suffered minor injuries in the accident.

Bromley said the Coast Starlight was traveling at 65 mph, 14 mph under the allowed speed limit, when it struck the 40-inch bar, which joins rail cars to couplers. The bar apparently had been dropped by a freight train using the track earlier, Bromley said. How the drawbar was dropped and why it went unnoticed is being investigated, he said.