One man was transported to the hospital Monday afternoon after an Amtrak passenger train slammed into a truck, slicing it in half and pushing the wreckage into a pair of parked vehicles at the edge of a farm field west of Santa Maria.
The accident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. alongside Highway 1, about a quarter mile north of Brown Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The northbound Amtrak passenger liner was traveling approximately 60 mph when it struck the truck on a private rail crossing, 1 mile south of Guadalupe, according to a Santa Barbara County Fire Department news release.
The train carried 250 passengers, none of whom was injured in the incident.
An hour after the accident, the Amtrak crew and passengers resumed their travels north after authorities assessed the tracks. Passengers reportedly didn’t feel the train hit the vehicle.
Along with county fire crews, the California Highway Patrol, Guadalupe Fire Department, American Medical Response and Amtrak crews responded to the accident.
However, the CHP deflected questions, saying Union Pacific officials were investigating the incident. A Union Pacific representative at the scene and a spokesman did not respond to phone calls or an email for comment.
The private railroad crossing had signs warning people to take precautions, but didn’t have crossing arms or lights.
The other two vehicles, a small red car and a small white pickup truck, were parked between the railroad tracks and farm field.
The impact of the crash severed the large pickup truck in half, with the rear segment coming to rest in the nearby field of young celery plants and the front portion slamming into the other parked vehicles.
The driver of the pickup suffered minor injuries, and was taken to a local hospital, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Noozhawk North County Editor Janene Scully reported from the scene.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
