DEXTER, Mich. (WXYZ) — An investigation is underway after an Amtrak passenger train collided with an SUV at a street-level railroad crossing in Dexter Wednesday morning.
The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office received the call at 7:48 a.m. for a collision near Central and Second streets. Deputies arrived at the scene at 8:03 a.m.
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Authorities said the driver of the SUV was evaluated by medical personnel at the scene but was not injured and was later released.
An Amtrak representative said there were also no reported injuries among passengers or crew members aboard the train, which was headed to Chicago.
Port Huron resident Julian Ruck was aboard the train for a business trip when the collision occurred. He described feeling the train come to an abrupt stop before passengers learned what had happened.
“It was a real sudden stop. And then, a few moments later, a conductor came running down the aisles. Shouted for people to move their legs. And then, a few moments after that, we were informed that we had hit a car,” Ruck said.Ruck said the train had departed the Ann Arbor Amtrak station about 15 minutes before the collision.
Passengers were delayed for about three hours before charter buses arrived to continue their journeys, according to Ruck.
“They’re gonna have two buses that’ll take those of us to Chicago, straight to Chicago. And then, other buses that’ll take people to the intermediate stops,” Ruck said.The cause of the collision was not immediately known. Commander Eugene Rush with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the sheriff’s office responded to the scene and said investigators had not determined why the train struck the vehicle.
The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the collision.
This article was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and edited by a journalist before publication.
