Union Pacific maintenance vehicle struck by Amtrak train

Amtrak Capitol Corridor train.

en.wikipedia.org

Service on Amtrak's Capitol Corridor was shut down for nine hours Friday after a Union Pacific front-load tractor was struck by a Capitol Corridor train.

The tractor was working on the middle track of a three-track section of line when it was hit, and the operator of the tractor suffered major injuries, then rushed to the hospital after being carefully removed from the wreckage. Two other people were also injured, including one passenger on the train, along with a third person. The extent of injuries to the train passenger have not been available to this point, while the third person was not taken to the hospital.

Rob Padgette, the managing director of the Capitol Corridor, issued the following statement to riders after the incident:

“Many of you have experienced recent extended delays and may have been impacted by train cancellations for which I would like to express my sincere apologies. In particular, we recognize that July 15 proved to be an extremely challenging day as there were multiple events which took place involving a fatality in one segment of our route, an equipment strike in another, as well as a trackside fire. This series of tragic events caused major delays between Oakland and San Jose, leaving some passengers in a situation where they needed to find other means of transportation. Operations staff did explore alternative transportation options along that segment through a bus bridge; however, driver shortages from local transit agencies prevented that from being an option that we could utilize. AC Transit, BART, County Connection and VTA were able to provide passengers with mutual aid.

“In this post-pandemic time, resource constraints continue to prevail, and we will continue to do our best to navigate around them. We appreciate the patience and flexibility many of you have shown during these unexpected incidents.”

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