WILTON MANORS, Fla. – Passengers were stuck on a Brightline train for more than two hours while engineers surveyed damage after a truck stopped on the tracks was struck.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said the driver of the truck, which was transporting a Tesla, may have been at fault.
“He was stopped on the tracks with one vehicle loaded on the trailer. The gates went down and he was unable to get the truck off of the tracks,” said Gollan.
The crash happened around 4 p.m. on Thursday.
The collision happened on the tracks at Wilton Drive and North Dixie Highway forcing the southbound train to come to a sudden stop.
A trail of scrapes could be seen on the outside of the train.
Although no one was injured as a direct result of the crash, one woman on board requested the services of fire rescue for a medical condition. The passenger was taken from the train and transported by fire rescue.
Safety engineers could be seen scouring the train for critical damage before they could give the green light to let the Brightline continue on its journey.
Again, investigators stress that there is something to learn from the dangerous collision.
Gollan warned in a message that is always worth repeating: “If you’re in traffic, you need to stop before the railroad gates. Always make sure the railroad tracks are clear.”