Amtrak trains collide in Oakland
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA (BDCi) – Service as an Oakland train station was restored Thursday morning and an investigation was under way after an Amtrak train crashed into another train that was unloading passengers, injuring 17 people.
Several people were taken to local hospital’s after Wednesday night’s crash, but all injuries were considered minor and non-life-threatening, officials said.
The train was traveling an estimated 15 to 20 mph when it struck the stationary Amtrak train around 10 p.m., Oakland Fire Department battalion chief Emon Usher said.
Usher said company officials told him the train went through a red light.
“According to the Amtrak representative, the train traveling should have never continued past the red signal,” Usher told The Associated Press.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said he could not comment on the report of the train running a red light.
He described the crash as a “low-speed” collision between Amtrak’s “San Joaquin,” a train that operates between Bakersfield to Oakland and Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, a train from Los Angeles to Seattle.
Amtrak and the owner of the tracks, Union Pacific Freight Railroad, plan to work with federal officials to investigate the crash, according to Amtrak.
The crash is the second significant incident in two weeks in the San Francisco East Bay area where there were injuries to Amtrak passengers.
On Sept. 30, 37 passengers and two crew members suffered minor to moderate injuries when an Amtrak passenger train collided with a truck at a crossing near Brentwood where there were no lights or gates.
By: Natania Levine Courtesy: cbsnews.com Photo: Google 13 October 2011
11:47 am P.D.T