California Amtrak Passengers Injured after Collision and Derailment at Unguarded Crossing
(Ventura, California – June 28, 2023)
At least sixteen Amtrak passengers were injured after a collision resulted in a partial derailment last Wednesday morning. The sixteen passengers were transported to local hospitals for undisclosed injuries. The derailment occurred around 11:30 am when the Amtrak train struck a Ventura County Public Works Agency water truck in Moorpark, California. According to police reports, three Amtrak train cars derailed from the tracks and were tiled sideways.
Daniel Frances, a passenger, told local reporters that “We heard a boom and felt a brief jolt.” “Then all of a sudden shaking and rocking sideways. It was pretty insane. I had to brace myself on both walls because I thought the train was going to go over. It’s pretty scary.”
The railroad crossing where this wreck occurred was near Los Angeles Avenue. The crossing did not have any lights and gates. It is virtually certain that the addition of lights and gates could have prevented this derailment and what could have been a much more horrific tragedy. Studies that have been conducted over fifty years ago confirm that lights and gates offer the ability to drastically reduce the number of vehicle/train collisions by as much as 96%.