Amtrak Commuter Trains Collide: One Passenger Hurt Very Critically, Up To 50 Injured As NYC-Bound Train Derailed

Two Amtrak commuter trains collide Friday. Sixty people were transported to a hospitals and five people were hurt critically, one very critically according to reports. The incident happened near Bridgeport, Conn. after a train headed for New York City was derailed and collided with a westbound train, Conn. Gov. Dan Malloy said in a news conference.

No fatalities were reported in the collision, The Journal News of Westchester County reports.

Metro-North Railroad called the accident a “major derailment” and will investigate the matter intensively.

The collision of the trains prompted Amtrak, which sent out notification via Twitter, to suspend service indefinitely between New York and Boston because of the accident. Metro-North Railroad, which serves commuters in the greater New York area, issued a service alert saying that the service had been suspended between New Haven and South Norwalk, Conn.

According to the Twitter feed of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the parent of Metro-North, service will not return to normal on the line until “a full investigation is complete and repairs are made,” reports the Journal News.

Malloy said of the incident that most people were not seriously hurt by what happened. He said there was extensive damage to the train cars and the track, and it could take the full weekend and until Monday for normal service to be restored.

The governor said that area where the incident happened was down to two tracks because of repair work and that the accident will have a huge “impact on the Northeast corridor.”

"We're most concerned about the injured and ultimately reopening the system," Malloy said from the scene, three hours after the collision. He said there was no reason to believe that it was “anything but an accident.”

A passenger who lives in Bridgeport, Conn., Lola Oliver, 49, was thrown from her seat the trains collided.

"All I know was I was in the air, hitting seats, bouncing around, flying down the aisle and finally I came to a stop on one seat. And I just gripped it because I felt the train sliding. It happened so fast I had no idea what was going on. All I know is we crashed," Oliver said as she was being interviewed by the Associated Press.

She was treated at a hospital for cuts and bruises, but was eventually released.

The National Transportation and Safety Board will head up an investigation into the crash, according to Malloy.

Police and emergency medical responders were on the scene Friday night and bus service was arranged for those who where unharmed in the crash, reports The Journal News.

By late evening Friday, Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said that everybody who needed treatment had been attended to.

According to the USA Today, the cause of the derailment remains unclear and that authorities will continue to investigate

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