Friday, August 7, 2015

DO NOT MESS WITH TRAINS: driver of a pickup truck that collided with the Denton A-Train Thursday morning has died


The driver of a pickup truck that collided with the Denton A-Train Thursday morning has died. (Published Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015)
 
The driver of a pickup truck that collided with the Denton A-Train Thursday morning has died.

Just before 9 a.m. the Denton County Transportation Authority A-Train collided with a pickup truck at the W. Hundley Drive and S. Denton Drive crossing in Lake Dallas, between the Highland Village/Lewisville Lake and MedPark stations, and was knocked off the tracks.

According to Chad Thiessen with the Lake Cities Fire Department, the driver of the truck struck by the train was transported to an area hospital, but died later that day. The identity of the driver has not yet been released.

About 32 passengers were on the northbound train at the time of the collision and told NBC 5 they felt the train shake before coming to a stop. They then had to wait on board for about an hour before being escorted off the train and onto buses and driven to the next stop, MedPark Station.

Part of the train was knocked off the tracks and part of the crossing arm was damaged in the crash, knocking out commuter train service until about 2:30 p.m. and blocking traffic from crossing the intersection until about 1 p.m.


Car damaged by collision with a DCTA A-Train, Aug. 6, 2015. Photo credit: Brian Scott, NBC 5 News 
After service resumed Thursday, the A-Train began crossing the intersection at much slower speeds with its horn blaring, as is policy after an incident according to DCTA communications.

Leaders with the transit authority said the incident is being investigated and, at this point, they don’t know why the truck was in the path of the train when the crossing arms seemed to be down and the warning alarms were sounding.

Vice President of Communication Nicole Recker said they continue to urge everyone to observe safety signs and measures around the tracks and to pay attention to their surroundings.

The DCTA website contains an entire section on rail safety that includes several warnings about the danger of getting in the train’s path.

The cause of the crash and how the vehicle came to be in the path of the train remain under investigation.

NBC 5's Brian Scott, Frank Heinz and Holley Ford contributed to this report.