Amtrak Crescent with 218 aboard disabled
in SC
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[November 25, 2013]
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Several
cars of the New York City-bound Amtrak Crescent carrying 218 passengers
and crew members went off the tracks early Monday in South Carolina, but
there were no serious injuries, authorities said.
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Train 20 from New Orleans became disabled shortly after midnight
when seven of the nine cars lost contact with the track but stayed
upright near Spartanburg, Amtrak said in a statement emailed to The
Associated Press.
Spartanburg County Deputy Fire Marshal Tony Barnett said initially
by telephone that the cars had derailed, but Amtrak in its later
email said only that the formation had become disabled when the
seven affected cars lost contact with the tracks.
"There are no cars overturned," Barnett told The Associated Press.
He said he was calling from the scene about six miles south of
Spartanburg in a semirural area where railway officials,
firefighters, sheriffs' officials and emergency first-responders
also were on hand.
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Barnett said there were no serious injuries, though he added four
passengers with apparently minor injuries had to be transported from
the site for further evaluation as a precaution.
Amtrak said the two locomotives of Train 20 also remained upright
along with the passenger cars.
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"Heating, lighting and other systems were
quickly re-established aboard the train, with meals and other
refreshments provided to the passengers. Amtrak chartered buses
to carry the passengers to their destinations," said the Amtrak
statement.
Amtrak said the train had left New Orleans on Sunday morning had
been due in New York City on Monday afternoon but that the
service was "annulled." It added that alternative transportation
was being arranged to deliver passengers to their scheduled
stops between Spartanburg and New York on other Amtrak trains
and buses.
Amtrak officials and Barnett said they had no immediate report
on the cause.
Amtrak said the matter was being investigated by Amtrak and
Norfolk Southern, which owns and controls and maintains that
portion of the Crescent's route. The Federal Railroad
Administration also was involved in the investigation, Amtrak
added.
[Associated
Press]
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