Train service through derailment site to be restored Wednesday

Several cars remain overturned after a CSX freight train derailed in Washington on Sunday, May 1, 2016. MANDATORY CREDIT (DC Fire and EMS via AP)
An emergency personnel employee works at the scene after a CSX freight train derailed in Washington on Sunday, May 1, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
The wreckage from Sunday's derailment litters the tracks under the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station on Monday morning. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
The wreckage from Sunday’s derailment litters the tracks under the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station on Monday morning. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
The wreckage from Sunday's derailment litters the tracks under the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station on Monday morning. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
The wreckage from Sunday’s derailment litters the tracks under the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station on Monday morning. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
Several cars remain overturned after a CSX freight train derailed in Washington on Sunday, May 1, 2016. (DC Fire and EMS via AP)
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The wreckage from Sunday's derailment litters the tracks under the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station on Monday morning. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
The wreckage from Sunday's derailment litters the tracks under the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station on Monday morning. (WTOP/Nick Iannelli)

WASHINGTON — MARC train operations will resume in the D.C. area Wednesday after a derailment in the District Sunday.

MARC announced Tuesday evening that repairs have been completed and the railroad has reopened after a CSX train derailed at Rhode Island Avenue and 9th Street Northeast Sunday morning. The Brunswick Line will operate on a regular schedule Wednesday, although MARC says passengers could experience minor delays.

On Tuesday morning, CSX crews were still working at the site where trails derailed, said CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle.

Monday night and into early Tuesday, crews excavated soil that was impacted by a 750-gallon leak of sodium hydroxide from a tank car that was damaged in the derailment. The site is now being backfilled with clean material so new railroad tracks can be rebuilt.

Freight train service is expected to be back up and running by Wednesday afternoon after its suspension following the crash, Doolittle said.

On Monday, five of the derailed rail cars were transported away from the site for inspection. Eleven cars are still on site, and will be moved off-site by the rails once they are restored, Doolittle said.

The site has undergone air monitoring and it has been confirmed there are no problems with air quality in the area.

The derailment’s impact was still felt by commuters on Tuesday.

The Maryland Transit Administration warned of “significantly reduced service” Tuesday on the MARC commuter rail Brunswick Line, which connects Washington to western Maryland and West Virginia.

Sarah Beth Hensley

Sarah Beth Hensley is the Digital News Director at WTOP. She has worked several different roles since she began with WTOP in 2013 and has contributed to award-winning stories and coverage on the website.

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