Report issued in train derailment

A report issued by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture points to a number of causes of last summer's train derailment at the Louisville Zoo.  Among the causes cited were inadequate operator training, poor maintenance of the train, and excessive speed of the train.  The three deficiencies resulted in the train derailment which injured several.

Any operator of a train is considered a common carrier under the law.  That means that they have a legal duty to exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of its passengers.  This requires at a minimum that the train and its components parts be properly maintained in safe condition, that the train's crew be properly trained, and that they follow safe operating procedures.

There was a failure by the zoo on all of these points, resulting in the train derailment and the injuries to the train's passengers.