Lightning Strike Hits Rail Operations in East, Midwest
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RICHMOND, Va. — A lightning strike Thursday at a railroad communication center slowed or halted rail traffic, including 11 Amtrak trains, in parts of the East and Midwest.
Also affected was radio communication between train crews and dispatchers, a CSX Transportation spokesman said. The lightning struck a CSX communication center in Jacksonville, Fla.
The lightning strike at 5:30 p.m. EDT knocked out the company’s signal system between Chicago and Philadelphia, in portions of Michigan, and in the Kentucky-West Virginia coal region, said CSX spokesman Adam Hollingsworth.
He said 200 trains were affected by the outage, including some on commuter lines Virginia Railway Express and Maryland Area Rail Commuter.
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