CHICAGO — Federal transportation officials said Saturday that their priority as they investigate a train collision on Chicago’s South Side is to figure out why both trains were on the same track at the same time.
People were catapulted from their seats when the Amtrak train traveling to Chicago from Grand Rapids, Mich., crashed into a freight train Friday. But most of the 187 passengers walked away without major injuries.
The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that a dispatcher in Michigan told the Amtrak train crew to slow down, prepare to switch tracks and proceed with caution as their train approached Chicago’s Union Station. The same dispatch center told the freight train crew to proceed toward their Chicago destination. The Amtrak crew did as told but still slammed into the freight train about a mile later. The Associated Press
