9 Taken To Hospital After SEPTA Train Crash
SEPTA said human error likely caused the train crash that sent nine people to the hospital causing some injuries on-the-job and delayed commuters for much of the morning.
According to this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a southbound work train struck the rear of a stopped southbound R1-Airport train about 4:40 a.m., on January 27. Five crew members were on the work train, and 16 passengers and two crew members were on the commuter train.
Four people were injured on the work train and five on the commuter train. They were treated at Albert Einstein Medical Center.
Richard Dixon was on the R1 train when it was hit. He said he was at the front of the train, with the engineer, when the accident occurred.
Dixon was knocked backwards into the wall and the engineer hit his head. Dixon was among those who went to the hospital, to be examined for back pains, and he said one of the passengers in the same ambulance received stitches for a cut on his chin.
According to the article, initial inspections of the signal, communications, and mechanical systems showed all were working properly.
A spokeman for Septa said human error, possibly by train crew or a dispatcher, is the probable cause. Although light snow was in the area at the time, he said weather was not considered a significant factor in the accident.
Work trains are treated differently under railroad operating rules than regular trains and must have specific authority from a dispatcher to proceed on a main line.
Track cars do not have signals in the cab to indicate if the track is occupied.
The Federal Railroad Administration investigators are conducting an investigation of the accident.
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