2 killed when Raleigh-bound Amtrak train collides with vehicle in Cabarrus County

Two people were killed when a vehicle collided Monday afternoon with a Raleigh-bound Amtrak train in Cbarrus County, law enforcement authorities said.

Posted 9:15 p.m. Oct 28, 2019 — Updated 3:14 a.m. Oct 29, 2019

Alfred Charles

, WRAL.com managing editor, & Mark Boyle, WRAL anchor/reporter

HARRISBURG, N.C. — Two people were killed when a vehicle collided Monday afternoon with a Raleigh-bound Amtrak train in Cabarrus County, law enforcement authorities said.

Amtrak's Piedmont 76 train had left Charlotte shortly after 3 p.m. and was en route to Raleigh when it collided with the vehicle around 3:30 p.m. at a railroad crossing next to N.C. Highway 49 in Harrisburg, about 160 miles from Raleigh.

No train passengers were injured during the crash. About 45 people were on the train at the time of the crash, Harrisburg fire officials said.

Rail service was suspended following the crash, and shaken passengers didn't arrive in Raleigh until about 9 p.m.

"The train shook a little bit, and lot of people either saw the impact or certainly saw the debris afterward," passenger Mary Willis Bode said. "We were there for a really long time, sitting and waiting, and I think we all kind of were praying for the people who had been affected and were hopeful. Our thoughts are with their families."

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

It was the second incident on Monday involving a train that was in Raleigh or en route to the city.

Early Monday, a woman was killed after she was struck by a freight train in downtown Raleigh.

That fatal collision occurred about 7:30 a.m. on railroad tracks at Cabarrus Street and Harrington Street.

The names of all three victims in both incidents haven't been released.

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