LANSDALE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Two teenagers were critically injured after their pickup truck rammed a moving freight train early Tuesday morning in Lansdale, police said. Inbound service on SEPTA’s Lansdale/Doylestown Line was suspended for several hours while authorities investigated.
Around 3 a.m., police said two teenagers, believed to be 16 and 17, in a Chevy pickup sped through a red light at Main and Broad streets and went around the gate arm at the train tracks near Lansdale Station.
Lansdale Police Chief Mike Trail said the truck then crashed into the moving freight train.
“[The truck] struck the train,” he said. “The gates were down. The train had probably about three or four cars already past the actual roadway, so it was almost mid-train where it struck.”
Both boys were transported to area hospitals in critical condition.
Trail said the collision knocked a tanker off the track, but there was no leak.
“Upon impact, one of the rail cars … came off the track and there was a partial derailment,” he added.
The Lansdale/Doylestown Line was suspended for several hours but resumed operations around noon. Delays are still expected.
SEPTA and county detectives are investigating the crash, and the NTSB is expected to be involved as well. Trail described the incident as a “high-impact” collision and said speed would be a factor in the investigation.