YARMOUTH — A car heading southbound on North Road Monday afternoon was struck by a Amtrak Downeaster passenger train.
According to Police Department Lt. Dean Perry, the SUV driven by a woman was hit at 12:32 p.m. Monday. The woman, who was alone in the vehicle and was not identified, was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with possible head and back injuries.
About an hour after the accident Perry said police had yet to review the film from a traffic camera positioned at the railroad crossing. He said witnesses said it appeared that the driver was trying to beat the train.
“The word we have from witnesses is that she tried to navigate around the crossing arm,” Perry said.
Perry said the woman’s vehicle was hit on the back end and thrown into the crossing arm in the northbound lane. The post and signs were ripped from the ground, leaving pieces of metal and plastic, as well as exposed wires, on and around the tracks.
There were 23 passengers on northbound Downeaster train 681. The train had to wait on the tracks for about an hour and a half after the accident while police talked to the crew and passengers.
Perry said a conductor was not willing to talk to police because of an Amtrak policy.
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