Train Strikes Dump Truck In Fort Worth
There are many different reasons why commuters decide to take the train. For some, it is more economical and environmentally friendly, while others find that they get to their destinations faster and with fewer worries of getting into an accident. For a number of passengers on board a Trinity Railway Express train last week in Far East Fort Worth last week, the experience was far different than what they were expecting.
According to a story appearing on the NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, a number of passengers were left shaken up and some hurt when the train they were on struck a dump truck. The accident occurred at approximately 12:00 p.m. in the 12500 block of Calloway Cemetery Road. Two people in the dump truck were killed and 11 train passengers injured, two of them critically. Three of these were also listed with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Approximately 24 other passengers were rattled by the incident but not hurt.
Investigators say that the majority of those injured in the crash were on the lower level of the double-decker passenger cars. One eyewitness, Jason Gladden, had been riding on the upper level of the train with his son, Trey, described what happened to reporters. He indicated he knew that the train would hit the dump truck because he could see the tracks in front of the locomotive.
“A big fireball went past our window, he said. “I heard an explosion.
The force of that explosion blew out windows in some of the passenger cars and damaged the front of the train.
The Dallas News also reported on the accident saying that the train had been traveling at under speed just before the fatal crash. According to Dallas Area Rapid Transit spokesperson, Morgan Lyons said that the crossing arms were down at the time of the crash and that the train had been traveling at approximately 74 miles per hour.
The accident is still under investigation.
