Numerous Injuries as Amtrak Train Hits 18-Wheeler at Dangerous, Unguarded BNSF Crossing
(Antioch, California –September 30, 2011)
Nearly 40 passengers, two train crew members, and two men hauling corn in a semi-trailer truck were taken to three Contra Costa, CA County hospitals after Amtrak’s “San Joaquin” passenger train struck the truck at a dangerous, unguarded rural crossing near Antioch, CA Friday evening around 7:30 P.M.
The train was traveling on Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks from Oakland, CA to Bakersfield, CA and carrying 204 passengers. The crossing, near Discovery Bay, had no electronic signals to protect the driving public from trains, relying solely on passive railroad crossbuck signs to mark the existence of railroad tracks.
After a freight locomotive was borrowed to pull the train to its destination, the “San Joaquin” and its uninjured passengers and relief crew departed for its destination after a 5 hour and 40 minute delay.
