Aug 20, 2008 2:40 pm US/Eastern
Worker Struck & Killed By Amtrak Train
NEW CARROLLTON, Md. (WJZ/AP) ―
There was tragedy on the tracks Wednesday morning. An investigation is underway after a man was struck and killed by a train.
Mike Schuh reports an Amtrak worker was hit by an Acela Express train near New Carrollton.
Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero says the northbound train left Washington at 5 a.m. Wednesday and struck the Amtrak worker at 5:08 a.m.
The Prince George's County Fire Department says the 35-year-old man was taken to an area trauma center in critical condition.
Romero says the injured man died later at the hospital. She declined to release his name.
Romero says she doesn't know what the man was doing at the time he was struck, but the incident is under investigation.
The accident closed the main line in and out of Washington, D.C. not only for Amtrak, but for MARC commuters, too.
In the main hall, the board that no morning passengers want to see was filled with late, canceled, and delayed rides.
"I'm not making out good. I just came in and saw the board and everything is either canceled or delayed," said one commuter.
Everyone was left scrambling to find a way south.
"Basically what we do is make contingency plans. We have people who can drive, and people will meet at different places and get down to D.C. It's just sort of emergency planning when you are dealing with the MARC on the daily basis," said Mark, a commuter.
"I don't know where all these people are going to go. What are they going to do? I don't know," said another commuter.
Some got the message to avoid the standing-room only crowd at Penn Station in Baltimore all together.
But on the Camden Line, it was a different story. It actually avoided the accident area. But the coaches are packed because they were the only trains heading to the capital during Wednesday morning's rush hour.
Remember Mark back at Penn Station? He traveled by his friend's four-wheel coach instead.
All services have been restored, but both and Amtrak are sorting out their equipment, their cancelations and their morning delays.
No one on the Acela train was injured.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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