Amtrak train and tractor-trailer collide in Greensboro, driver injured

A tractor-trailer and an Amtrak train collided near Burlington Road in Greensboro Wednesday afternoon, sending the truck driver to a local hospital and drawing Greensboro Police, Greensboro Fire and Guilford County EMS to the Buchanan Church Road crossing.

Greensboro police said the crash happened around 2:20 p.m. in the 100 block of Buchanan Church Road. The Amtrak train was Piedmont 75, traveling from Raleigh to Charlotte with 60 passengers aboard. No injuries were immediately reported among passengers or crew, and the truck driver appeared to have minor injuries before being taken for treatment.

The collision briefly turned the roadway near Burlington Road into an emergency scene in a part of Greensboro where freight traffic, passenger rail and local road access intersect in close quarters. Other Amtrak trains in North Carolina were delayed or canceled after the crash, showing how a single crossing incident in Guilford County can ripple beyond the immediate block and into the broader rail network.

The route itself carries daily passenger traffic through the county. NC by Train says eight Piedmont trains, owned and operated by the N.C. Department of Transportation, connect Charlotte, Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Cary and Raleigh. Amtrak markets the Piedmont line as a Raleigh-to-Charlotte service with stops in Durham, Greensboro and other cities, making the corridor one of the state’s most heavily used intercity rail links.

The Buchanan Church Road area has also been part of earlier railroad-crossing work. Greensboro previously announced maintenance affecting railroad crossing areas July 1-10, 2024, including Buchanan Church Road between Hwy. 70 E. and Porte Place on July 3. That history adds weight to Wednesday’s collision, because it places the crash in a corridor where rail operations and road design have already required disruption and attention.

The cause of the collision remained under investigation Wednesday. For drivers, rail passengers and businesses near Burlington Road, the immediate toll was already clear: one truck driver hurt, one passenger train slowed, and a Greensboro crossing again forced to absorb the strain of moving freight, people and traffic through the same narrow space.