(The following story by Francine Sawyer appeared on the Sun Journal website on April 12, 2010.)
NEW BERN, N.C. — Motorists commuting to downtown New Bern were stalled between 8 and 10 a.m. Monday after two trains from different towns met at the same time in the city.
Robin Chapman, spokesman for Norfolk Southern, said trains from Selma and Chocowinity reached New Bern at the same time and one train had to pull over and allow the other train to pass.
“Usually the trains from these towns arrive between 3 and 4 a.m. and are not noticed by anyone. Unfortunately New Bern is the only place that one train can pull over and let another train pass. There was an exceptionally long train with 145 cars. The train was late as it had to pick up other cars on the way. I know it caused grief for the folks in New Bern and we apologize, but we are working on a plan that will help prevent this from happening,” Chapman said.
Scott Sailor, president of the N.C. Railroad Co., said from his office in Raleigh that train business has increased greatly.
“We are glad of that but sorry for the inconvenience. We hope to work on this to prevent this from happening again,” Sailor said.
Motorists stuck downtown before reaching Hancock Street who were able to turned around and used Alfred A. Cunningham Bridge to avoid the problem. Motorists driving toward downtown New Bern and those wanting to leave the city were blocked from Hancock Street to the train depot on National Avenue.