(The following article by Debbi Wilgoren was posted on the Washington Post website on July 7.)
WASHINGTON — Commuter rail service through Gaithersburg was shut down early this morning after a freight train collided with a garbage truck that had been left on the rails, authorities said.
No one was hurt when the CSX train barreled into the sanitation truck about 5:45 a.m., said Kenneth O’Dell, a dispatching supervisor with the Montgomery County police.
But, he added, “trash from the garbage truck is everywhere.”
Service on MARC’s Brunswick line was suspended until at least 9 a.m., O’Dell said.
The commuter rail service issued a service advisory that said both tracks of the railroad were blocked just west of the station, near Chestnut Street, and no trains were moving.
MARC was searching for buses to transport stranded passengers who had boarded before the crash, the statement on its website said.
Those who had planned to take a train later during the morning rush can use their MARC tickets on Metrorail’s Red Line.