Grandfather, grandson jump out of car before it becomes wedged under Commuter Rail train

ASHLAND, Mass. — The driver of a car that stalled on train tracks and became wedged under a Commuter Rail train Thursday evening says they’re just grateful they got out safely.

The car was struck at the intersection, but then ended up down the tracks a couple of hundred yards away, behind the police station.

A grandfather and his 13-year-old grandson had been inside when the car either stalled or got stuck on the tracks at the Ashland Station on Main Street.

They then got out of the vehicle to alert the fire department that the car was stuck on the tracks. No injuries were reported.

“I think they thought they could wave at the train and get it to stop and unfortunately these trains are too big. You’re not going to stop it quick enough to prevent that from happening,” said Ashland Fire Chief Keith Robie.

Instead, thankfully, they both were out of the car when an oncoming train hit the car.

Grandfather, grandson jump out of car before it becomes wedged under Commuter Rail train Grandfather, grandson jump out of car before it becomes wedged under Commuter Rail train

“One of the occupants got out and ran next door to the fire station, alerted the fireman on duty that they were stuck so the firemen on duty ran over to assist and as they approached the car they realized that the train was coming,” Robie said.

It pushed the car from the train station to the tracks behind the police station.

“Thank goodness they were out because you can see the condition of the car. They could have been seriously injured or killed,” said Ashland Police Chief Vincent Alfano.

Passengers on the train from Worcester weren’t sure what happened at first.

“Shortly after we went through the intersection, we did hear kind of a weird sound and the train stopped and the conductor came running through and said, ‘Get out of the way,’” said passenger Bill Tholen.

“I was on the second car from the front. We felt a little bit of a jostle and we heard a noise, didn’t know if it was gravel kicking up and the train stopped abruptly. We kind of thought we were at the Ashland stop so people started getting off but we looked out the window and were like, ‘Is that a car crunched up by the car?’ And (we) kind of put two and two together," said Tim McSweeney of Worcester.

Many passengers were left confused and scrambling to find another way home. The Worcester Line was delayed for hours as a result.

Related

MBTA’s accelerated repair plan to bring major commute disruptions

© 2020 Cox Media Group