Tracks are reopened 2 days after a freight train derailed in Montgomery County

The tracks where a freight train derailed Monday in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, were reopened to rail traffic Wednesday morning, Norfolk Southern confirmed Wednesday evening.

Shortly before 5 a.m. Monday, 15 cars of a 40-car westbound CSX freight train derailed on the line owned by Norfolk Southern. Twelve homes in the area were briefly evacuated, and no injuries were reported.

Whitemarsh Police Chief Christopher Ward said in an email that the tracks were reopened earlier Wednesday with a 10-mph speed restriction in the area for the protection of crews still working alongside the tracks.

Ward said three different trains moved through the township in the first few hours in an attempt to clear a backlog.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Norfolk Southern said a preliminary investigation indicated that a sinkhole was the cause of the derailment. Multiple investigations into the accident remain ongoing.

The derailment occurred in an area that had recently experienced heavy rain and flooding.

When the train derailed, plastic pellets spilled out of a tear in a 190,000-pound hopper car onto the ground. The pellets are not dangerous. Nothing else was reported to have spilled from the train, Norfolk Southern said.