MEMPHIS — Three passengers were injured on Sunday (Feb. 22) in a low-speed collision between Amtrak’s City of New Orleans and a Canadian National freight train.
Amtrak said in a statement that the incident occurred about 11 a.m. in New South Memphis, Tenn., when southbound train No. 59, which was stopped, was “contacted by a freight train traveling at a slow rate of speed.” A total of 128 people were on board.
While Amtrak said three people were injured, Memphis police said two people had been taken to the hospital with non-critical injuries, according to WREG-TV. A CN spokeswoman said no fires or hazardous materials were involved.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a social media post this evening that it is sending a team of investigators to the scene of the collision.
The City of New Orleans had left Chicago more than 3 hours late on Saturday night, and was 3 hours, 15 minutes late leaving Memphis prior to the collision. The train eventually resumed its journey about 8 hours, 20 minutes behind schedule, according to the train status feature on the Amtrak website. It arrived in New Orleans at 11:21 p.m., some seven hours, 34 minutes late.
— Updated Feb. 23 at 8:50 a.m. CT with information from Amtrak statement and arrival time of train in New Orleans. Follow Trains.com for further details as they become available. To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
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