2 injured after truck crashes into moving train in Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Two teenage boys are in critical condition after their pickup truck slammed into a freight train in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday morning.
SEPTA was forced to suspend service at its Lansdale Regional Rail station for hours because of the crash, which happened just before 3 a.m. Service has resumed on the Lansdale-Doylestown line.
Lansdale Police Chief Michael Trail said a pickup truck collided with a Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad train where the tracks intersect with Broad Street, near the station.
Two people pulled from the pickup truck — a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old — were taken to hospitals.
"Right now, we have two young persons from our community who are in very critical condition, and our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families," Trail said.
Trail said the train had boxcars and tanker cars but was unsure of their contents. There were no leaks at the scene.
In a later update, Trail said the truck ran a red light and blew past a railroad crossing arm that was blocking the train tracks. The gates were down, and the train was already three or four cars through the intersection at the time of the "high impact, high velocity collision," Trail said.
Surveillance video shows the truck speeding down Broad Street before hitting the train.
Police are investigating the crash.
The force of the impact partially derailed the train, but it was later righted back onto the rails and has since moved out of the way. The truck was being removed from the scene around 9:30 a.m.
A SEPTA spokesperson said the freight train was using SEPTA tracks.
"I think it's awful. I wish people would slow down around here," said Michael Antonacio from North Wales. "They're going too fast."
