A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter train struck a truck at a crossing in Canton on Wednesday, leaving one person injured and rail traffic delayed.
At about 1:40 p.m., the train on the system’s Stoughton Line struck the truck, pushing it down the tracks until it got wedged up against a fence, as shown in pictures posted online by the Canton Police Department.
The operating company for the train, Keolis, says the truck driver was at fault.
“There is no issue with this crossing. The driver of the truck stopped on the tracks for unknown reasons. The crossing warning system was functioning as intended,” Keolis told Boston’s WCVB-TV.
A driver who was behind the truck said the person driving the tractor-trailer had no choice but to flee after his vehicle got boxed in by the crossing arms.
“[The driver] was driving very cautiously for a huge truck around these parts, these small streets. All of a sudden the truck was going across the tracks and ’ding, ding, ding!’ the posts came down. He was literally stuck. There was nothing he could do. He had seconds to react, I imagine,” Adam McCulloch told the TV station.
The truck driver bailed out and got away unscathed, though a passenger on board the train suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital, Canton Fire Chief Wendell Robery said, according to WBZ-TV.
Trains on the Stoughton Line stopped and originated at the Canton Center station for hours after the incident, with normal service resuming just before 10 p.m. Wednesday. A shuttle bus was also used to get passengers from the Canton Center station toward Stoughton.
