Truck Driver Injured After Amtrak Texas Eagle Slams into Truck’s Cab in Arlington

July 5th, 2012 |

ARLINGTON, Tx. — A truck driver was seriously injured and hospitalized after an
Amtrak Texas Eagle train collided with the truck’s cab on Friday, June 29, at a private crossing in west Arlington, Texas.

Rescue crews carry a passenger from the Texas Eagle after a collision between the train and a tractor trailer on June 29, 2012 in west Arlington, Texas. Photo: Star-Telegram/Joyce Marshall

The accident occurred at about 5 p.m. Friday, June 29, on the driveway to the Howell Farms banquet center, just off Texas 180 near the Arlington-Fort Worth line. The cab of the truck, which was carrying grass pallets, was wedged beneath one of the rail cars at the scene at 4000 W. Division St.

Arlington police spokeswoman Zhivonni McDonnell told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the locomotive of the westbound Texas Eagle, carrying 140 passengers and crew on its Chicago-to-San Antonio run, tore the tractor from the trailer and dragged it 300 feet down the Union Pacific track.

Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm says the train remained on the tracks and that no one aboard was hurt. However, McDonnell says a few passengers did seek medical attention.

It was the second collision in that area and the third on the Union Pacific line since October, when an engineer in an eastbound locomotive disregarded a warning signal and struck a parked train.

No one was hurt in that crash, but three engines and five rail cars were damaged and part of Division Street was shut down for about a day.

The incident remains under investigation at this time.

For more information about Texas trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact an experienced Texas truck accident lawyer. For a free initial consultation, contact nationwide truck accident attorneys, Gordon, Elias & Seely LLP, for expert advice.