The City of Tempe Thursday commended the "thorough investigation" of the National Transportation Safety Board regarding the 2020 train derailment at Tempe Town Lake.

NTSB released its final report on the incident Thursday, stating a broken rail was the probable cause of the July 29, 2020 bridge collapse and fire. A cargo train derailed at approximately 6 a.m. on the Union Pacific train bridge that crosses Tempe Town Lake.

No one was injured during the derailment.

Union Pacific owns the railroad bridge over the lake. Since 1887, the federal government has had authority over the movement of passengers and property by rail as well as rail infrastructure, a city release stated. 

UPRR has reimbursed the city $481,715 for expenses related to the train derailment, Tempe officials said. The reimbursement covers repair and replacement of damaged city property, incident response costs, traffic control, environmental testing and other expenses.  

UPRR also spent approximately $11 million to repair and replace portions of the historic railroad bridge over Tempe Town Lake, according to the city.

The railroad also repaired portions of Rio Salado Parkway and damage to Tempe Beach Park, including trees, streetlights and more.

"Response to this incident showed the tremendous teamwork and professionalism of Valley first responders and city staff," the release stated.

"Crews from four area cities responded to help put out the ensuing fire and remove hazardous materials from the area. City of Tempe staff responding included engineers, water quality experts, municipal utilities workers and more." 

The NTSB report can be found here:  https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/RRD20LR005.aspx