(Albuquerque, New Mexico – December 19, 2014)
An as-yet unidentified adult female was struck and seriously injured by Amtrak’s Los Angeles-bound “Southwest Chief” with 211 passengers on board late Friday afternoon about 4:39 P.M., MST at Albuquerque’s Alvarado Transportation Center.
The victim was hit by an Amtrak train, which now stops at the Transportation Center since Albuquerque’s historic Santa Fe depot was destroyed by fire a few years ago, and may have thought the train was stopped. She also may have been distracted by the departure of the 4:30 P.M. “Rail Runner” commuter passenger train, which uses the same station but a parallel track as it travels to Santa Fe, NM.
The woman was conscious and breathing when she was transported to a local hospital, where she was admitted in critical but stable condition.
The transportation center has open platforms which are used for 16 Amtrak and New Mexico Rail Runner Express trains daily, while Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight trains bypass the passenger terminal via parallel but widely separated tracks.
