(The following article by Jim McKinnon and Ryan Haggerty was posted on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website on May 26.)
PITTSBURGH — Three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a low-speed train collision early yesterday Downtown.
Passengers were getting off the Amtrak Capitol Limited from Chicago at 4:05 a.m. when its last boxcar was struck from behind by the engine of an Allegheny Valley Railroad freight train.
The collision caused little damage to the two trains. The Allegheny Valley engineer told police that he was traveling at or below the restricted speed limit of 15 mph for that zone.
The engineer of the freight told police that he saw passengers on the platform before the collision.
The Capitol Limited had been carrying 180 passengers and eight crew en route to Washington, D.C.
Many of those passengers were transferring to another train destined for Philadelphia.
Those traveling to Washington were offered bus transportation, an Amtrak spokesman said.
Erica Drake, an Amtrak passenger, said she was still sleeping when her train pulled into Pittsburgh.
“I just felt a big jolt, and [I] didn’t know if we were dreaming or if we were actually hit or anything,” she told KDKA-TV.
Police said a male passenger suffered lacerations of the head and fingers. One struck his chest on something during the collision. A third complained of neck and back pain.
Two of the three injured passengers were taken to Mercy Hospital, where they were treated and released.
The Amtrak train proceeded to Washington with only its crew.