Six Amtrak Passengers Injured and Derailment Ensues After Failure to Notify Amtrak Trains of Vehicle Stuck on the Tracks
(New Buffalo, Michigan – November 21, 2023)
At least six Amtrak passengers were injured, and an Amtrak train derailed after their train struck a vehicle that was stuck on the tracks in Southwest Michigan last week. The collision occurred at approximately 9:03 pm in Berrien County, Michigan.
Alarmingly, a citizen reported the stuck vehicle to local 911 officials almost an hour earlier. According to reports, 911 operators notified a freight railroad that owns the tracks in the township, CSX, of the stuck vehicle. CSX, however, never notified Amtrak trains of the stuck vehicle and apparently never clarified with 911 dispatchers that the stuck vehicle was not on their tracks. Therefore, Amtrak trains were not notified of the stuck vehicle. The misidentification was blamed the failure to notify Amtrak on a “technology failure and misidentification of a crossing.”
The investigation of this derailment is ongoing.
