Monday, March 2, 2015

AMTRAK TRAIN HEADING TOWARD LOS ANGELES HIT A VEHICLE IN VENTURA COUNTY, BUT THERE WERE NO INJURIES AND THE TRAIN DID NOT DERAIL









 MARCH 2, 2015

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (CNS)

A railroad track in Camarillo was clear today after an Amtrak train heading toward Los Angeles hit a vehicle in Ventura County, just a few miles away from the site of last week's derailment, but there were no injuries and the train did not tip over, firefighters said.

The Ventura County Fire Department reported that the crash was at Fifth Street at Pleasant Valley Road in Camarillo about 8 p.m. Sunday and involved Pacific Surfliner train 796 en route to Camarillo, Los Angeles and San Diego, Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz told City News Service. It originated in Goleta, and had stopped in Santa Barbara and Oxnard.

The two people in the vehicle -- apparently a green sedan -- had evacuated before the train arrived. After the crash, firefighters boarded the train to assess possible injuries, according to Ventura County Fire Department Capt. Mike Lindbery.

Schulz said there were 86 passengers aboard and they were bused to Los Angeles. He did not know the number of crew members on the train.

The track was blocked for several hours, Ventura County Fire Capt. Stan Ziegler told City News Service. The car was removed from the tracks by 9 p.m. Sunday but the train removal took several more hours.

That grade crossing is, like the scene of the last crash, surrounded by agricultural fields. It is 3 miles east of the crossing at Rice Avenue in Oxnard, where the Metrolink commuter train hit a truck last Tuesday. Twenty-eight train passengers and crew were injured.

Heavy rain was falling Sunday night in Camarillo, which is about 50 miles west of Los Angeles.

The last reported crash at the Camarillo location was in 1995, between an Amtrak train and a truck-trailer stopped in the crossing, according to federal records. No one was injured in that incident.