Train Carrying Lawmakers Hits Truck in Crozet
January 31, 2018
An Amtrak train carrying several Republican lawmakers collided into a garbage truck at Marymart Farm Road at approximately 11:17, killing one person and injuring several. Around 200 Republican senators and representatives were heading to the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia when the train hit a Time Disposal garbage truck at the crossing at Lanetown and Marymart Farm Roads, causing it to derail. Local VA 5th District Representative Tom Garrett has confirmed via Twitter that he was not on the train. The Amtrak was able to return to the Charlottesville station with one intact engine, where lawmakers were taken on buses to their retreat.
Several roads including Railroad Avenue were closed to reporters and news vans flowed into the Western parking lot following the crash. During lunch, students parked in the upper lot were asked to move their cars to open the lot to journalists. School buses were used to transport media personnel to the impact scene and to the Charlottesville Amtrak station, where Arizona Senator Jeff Flake gave a brief statement and answered press questions.
Senior Anne Patterson was returning to her home in Grayrock North after a doctor’s appointment when she approached police cars blocking the entrance to her neighborhood. Patterson says she didn’t have service and wasn’t aware of the crash until she arrived on the scene. According to Patterson, there were at least a hundred cars in the area and she saw Pegasus circling the crash as she was on her way home. She says that she could see the train and trash surrounding the truck from her home
There is one confirmed fatality from the train crash, Time Disposal employee Christopher Foley. Members of the company have set up a GoFundMe page to support his family and cover funeral costs. Two other Time Disposal employees remain at UVA Hospital, with one in critical condition.
