Driver Injured After MBTA Commuter Rail Train Strikes Vehicle

The 58-year-old female driver was seriously injured and was rushed to Beth Israel for treatment

It was a scary scene in Belmont, Massachusetts after a car with a mother and three children in it somehow ended up on the tracks on Brighton Street, with an inbound Fitchburg line train quickly approaching.

We just heard the horn of the train honking and we noticed that the car was on the tracks,” said witness Darren Greeley.

Witness Bob Ouelette said, “He leaned on the horn, he slowed right down, she was getting her kids out of the car, she had three kids, she got all the kids out when she was getting the last kid out, she was outside of her car and the train – the impact from the train hitting her car kind of whiplashed her and knocked her on the ground.”

The 58-year-old female driver was seriously injured and was rushed to Beth Israel for treatment.

But amazingly investigators say her eleven-year-old son, his ten-year-old classmate and that boy’s six year old brother, who was in the car when it was stuck, were all uninjured.

“This was a very tragic situation and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that was in that vehicle, particularly the female operator who sustained the most serious injury,” said MBTA Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan.

Supt. Sullivan says the conductor did sound the horn and slowed down, and the crossing gate was fully functional.

He doesn’t believe the woman’s car broke down, but why she was on the tracks remains under investigation.

Supt. Sullivan said, “I don’t want to second guess anything this woman did, she did what she felt was best at that time and again our thoughts and prayers are with her and we’re hoping that she’s going to be okay.” 

The driver is listed in serious condition at Beth Israel. Investigators have not yet confirmed her identify.

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