MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Three passengers were injured today (Sunday, Feb. 22) in a low-speed collision between Amtrak’s City of New Orleans and a Canadian National freight train.
While Amtrak said three people were injured, Memphis police said two people had been taken to the hospital with non-critical injuries.
An Amtrak representative told WREG-TV that southbound train No. 59 was stopped when it was “contacted by a freight train traveling at a slow rate of speed.” Memphis police told the station they responded to the incident at 11:41 a.m. A CN spokeswoman said no fires or hazardous materials were involved.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a social media post this evening that it is sending a team of investigators to the scene of the collision.
A total of 128 people were on board the train, according to Amtrak. The City of New Orleans had left Chicago more than 3 hours late on Saturday night, and was 3 hours, 15 minutes late leaving Memphis prior to the collision. The train eventually resumed its journey about 8 hours, 20 minutes behind schedule, according to the train status feature on the Amtrak website, and as of 9:15 p.m. CT was projected to arrive in New Orleans at 11:14 p.m., about seven and a half hours late.
— This is a developing story. Follow Trains.com for further details as they become available. To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
Wass this a nose to nose collision or CN hitting rear of Amtrak?