A MARC train slammed into a dump truck in Silver Spring, Maryland, Monday evening, delaying passengers for hours but remarkably leaving the driver and all 620 train passengers uninjured.
The crash occurred about 5 p.m. at the crossing on Forest Glen Road at Seminary Road.
Daniel Ogren of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service said he was amazed the driver of the smashed vehicle was not hurt.
"Take one look at the cab of the truck," he said. "It's crushed. I don't understand how he walked away the way he did."
About 620 people were on the train bound for Martinsburg, West Virginia. Lucky for passengers, the air conditioning on the train was working.
Passenger Carlton Tartar was delayed for two hours.
"We're sitting at Union Station for a while and then we left Union Station and stopped outside Silver Spring, probably an hour without moving," he said.
Service on the Brunswick Line was suspended for more than two hours while the CSX truck was removed from the tracks and the train was inspected. Service was restored by 7:40 p.m. but delays continued as five trains got stuck waiting at Union Station.
The engineer was checked out, and one passenger on the train also was looked at but declined being taken to a hospital.
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Train 874, which departed from Martinsburg at 5:25 a.m., operated with two fewer railcars Tuesday; riders were told to expect crowded conditions on board the train. MARC officials said boarding would be stopped once the train reached capacity.
Otherwise, the Brunswick Line is operating with its normal amount of cars.
The Brunswick Line, MARC's longest at 85 miles, serves more than 8,000 riders per day.
MARC is still investigating the cause of the crash.
