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METRORail Accident Knocks Train Off Tracks

Union Pacific Truck Driver, Light-Rail Train Operator Taken To Hospital

POSTED: Friday, January 23, 2004
UPDATED: 4:53 pm CST January 23, 2004

A truck hit a METRORail train Friday morning, knocking the light-rail train off the tracks, News2Houston reported.

Video

The accident happened around 9 a.m. when a Union Pacific truck hit the train on Kirby at Holmes Road, officials said.

Investigators said the truck driver bypassed the railroad crossing arms, which were down, to cross the tracks. The light-rail train's emergency brakes were activated but the train was not able to stop in time.

The drivers of the truck and the train were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. The driver of the truck, Christopher McGinnis, 30, was listed in critical condition with head injuries. The METRORail driver, Walter McBride, was treated for glass in his eye. McBride has been with METRO since 1973.

METRORail

The collision happened on the 1.7 mile-long test track that is not yet part of the public rail system. There were no passengers on the light-rail train.

It's the ninth accident involving a METRORail train since the system began operating.

Fifteen of 17 light rail vehicles have gone through the required testing. The vehicle involved in this incident is still going through the testing process.

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