A Maryland Transit Administration light rail train collided with a passenger truck Friday night, sending the driver of the vehicle to Maryland Shock Trauma with critical injuries, according to the agency.
The truck “entered the light rail track area and was struck by a northbound light rail train,” an MTA spokesperson said in a statement.
Emergency services responded to the crash that took place just before 11 p.m. just north of the Woodberry Light Rail Station. The incident is under investigation, and light rail service has resumed.
The northbound train was packed with Orioles fans celebrating a 7-1 win over the Detroit Tigers before it hit the motorist, wedging the vehicle sideways between the train and a fence. Riders who spoke to The Banner said they were stuck on the train without communication from officials and were left to find their own way home. Others praised the efforts of officials who guided them through an unexpected delay.
Eric and Stephanie Lamdin were onboard when they heard the train operator blast the horn and brake hard. Then they heard a “grinding” noise.
“Everyone kind of went flying forward,” Stephanie Lamdin said. “Luckily no one on the train seemed to be severely injured.”
She recalled one person said their neck hurt, but most riders maintained their balance despite the jolt. Everyone on the train helped each other, and she caught an older man who needed support.
Outside the train, emergency crews flooded the area with lights. At one point the Lamdins could see someone pinned between the truck and a fence. The truck was up on two wheels on its side, and the driver’s side door was open. Firefighters had to use equipment to free the driver, she said.
The couple estimated they were on the train for an hour with very little communication from officials.
“The lack of communication was concerning,” Stephanie Lamdin said.
About 15 minutes after the crash, passengers were told another train was coming to pick them up, but that was the only communication, she said.
Generally, train passengers were calm, but some started to yell out the window to police, “‘We’re feeling like trapped animals in here; you have to let us off. People need to go to the bathroom,’” the couple recalled.
The Lamdins were concerned for the older people near them and families with young children on the train.
“We felt like one of the first things they should have done was evacuate us off the train,” he said.
Eventually, the passengers filed off the train. The couple described “a chaotic scene.” Younger, able-bodied passengers helped older riders down a nearly two-foot drop to the rocks of the train tracks, only to be told they had to go back onto the train and exit through the other side.
Passengers were told to walk back to Woodberry station. There they boarded a southbound light rail to North Avenue, where they were told there would be shuttle buses. Eric Lamdin, however, ordered an Uber to take them back to their Timonium home.
The pair said this “sad and frustrating” event will be their last time using public transportation in Baltimore because there’s only been a handful of times when their trip has been uneventful.
“We do really value public transportation,” Stephanie Lamdin said. “It seems like every time we use the light rail something horrific happens. It’s sad that you can’t rely on the public transportation to get you home.”
Passenger Jessica Ray said she was disappointed in the lack of preparedness for an emergency event.
“We were stranded,” the 28-year-old said. She traveled home to Lutherville-Timonium from the North Avenue stop after realizing the shuttle service was insufficient for the number of people who needed a ride.
“There were some people on that train who were really concerned about how they were going to get home,” she said.
The northbound train that eventually crashed into the truck started its journey in an unusual fashion — by going southbound — according to multiple passengers.
“Everybody was very weirded out,” Ray said.
The train went south and then stopped for five to 10 minutes. Someone whom Ray believed to be an MTA operator walked through the train to the northbound end before taking the train in the right direction.
Some riders praised officials for efficiently handling the incident.
“Yes, our trip home was delayed by two hours. Yes, we would have liked for our evening at the ball park to end on a lighter note,” wrote Robert Locke of Baltimore in an email. “But the real story is how the efficient and calm train conductor handled the situation, the efficiency of the emergency crews, and the well organized way in which the MTA arranged for another train and buses.”
Baltimore’s embattled north-south aboveground rail service has suffered accidents, service suspensions and mechanical issues in recent years.
This month, a light rail train collided with a vehicle at Howard and Lombard streets. No injuries were reported. This summer, a light rail operator pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment after fatally striking Baltimore high school football player Lamar Patterson in 2022.
In 2020, a collision between two light rail trains and a vehicle killed one woman and sent three others, including a light rail operator, to the hospital.
