Derailed train being put back on track

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Crews using heavy equipment are working to get a derailed tanker containing a flammable liquid back on track.

Two tanker cars derailed on the railroad trestle over Route 5 in West Springfield on Thursday evening. One of the cars is filled with a flammable liquid, while another is empty but contains residue from a flammable liquid.

Due to the situation, the highway remains closed between the Memorial Bridge Rotary and the North End Bridge Rotary, and residents of three nearby streets have been evacuated.

By 5:00 Friday evening, a crane was being used to lift the white tanker car (the one filled with the flammable liquid) off the tracks. West Springfield Mayor Greg Neffinger had estimated that the process would take about two hours, however a problem with one of the cranes may set the process back further into the night.

Residents from the evacuated streets will be allowed to return to their homes after the train cars are safely back on the track, Neffinger said.