It’s not unusual for us to hear about cars, buses, or trucks colliding with trains, but how do you manage it with a trolley?
Here’s the story:
[:^)]
That’s easy all you need is a diamond between a trolley or light rail line and a regular rail line, and there you go. There is exactly one place in the US where such a diamond exists, at Darby, Pennsylvania. It only took nearly one hundred years to happen but it finally did.
The SEPTA trolly line crosses CSX’s Philadelphia Sub at grade in Darby, PA and has done so for many decades. To my (limited) knowledge this is the last existing grade crossing of a trolley line and Class 1 railroad. I believe SEPTA traffic is governed by ‘crossing protection’ for the highway road crossing in which the rail crossing exists. The speed for CSX trains through the area is 30 MPH.
Evident that the trolly operated past the crossing gate.
Suspect trolly saw the lights flashing prior to the gates coming down and stopped too close to the tracks. Operator Error.
Wonder if SEPTA considers Trolly Operator a higher class of service than bus driver, or vice versa.