Amtrak Train Derails in Texas; 13 Are Injured

An Amtrak passenger train carrying 199 people derailed Sunday night, slightly injuring 13 passengers.

Eight passenger cars and one baggage car of the westbound train left the tracks shortly after 7 p.m., said Arlington Fire Lt. Pat English. He said the injured were treated at hospitals.

“It’s generalized mostly as neck and back pain,” English said. “Nothing life-threatening, it appears, at this time. So we’re really thankful it wasn’t worse.”

The train, the Texas Eagle, originated in Chicago and was headed for Los Angeles, English said.

Passenger Clyda Cole said she was having dinner in the dining car when suddenly the air brakes slammed on.

“The car fell sideways, and everybody fell out of their seats and food went everywhere, drinks went everywhere. It’s amazing that in the dining car more people weren’t injured,” she said.

English said officials had not yet determined what caused the derailment.

“It looks like it just jumped off the track,” English said. “There was no intersection and no cars in the way, and certainly there is no indication the train was speeding.”

Amtrak spokesman John Wolf in Washington said the crash is under investigation. It occurred on tracks owned by Union Pacific Railroad.

The derailment occurred in an area just south of the Six Flags Over Texas amusement park in this north Texas city between Dallas and Fort Worth.

TV station KDFW reported that the train apparently was involved in another accident in a neighborhood southeast of Dallas earlier Sunday. A woman walking on the tracks was struck and killed, the station reported.