BNSF train runs off end of track, ends up on downtown street

An engine hauling railcars failed to stop at the end of railroad tracks and wound up partially blocking South King Street on Thursday morning, a spokesman for BNSF Railway said.

The train rolled beyond the tracks at 11:15 a.m., spokesman Gus Melonas said. It rolled over a sidewalk and ended up a few feet onto South King Street beneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct. No one was injured.

A crew lifted the wheels of the locomotive back on the track by early afternoon, Melonas said.

The engine, pulling 2,900 feet of cargo, was traveling less than 2 mph, he said. Officials are trying to determine why the train did not stop in time.

The train was on a side-yard track, and there was no impact on mainline operations, which include freight, Amtrak and Sound transit, Melonas said.

The accident did not significantly disrupt street traffic.