Amtrak train hits construction trailer in Cary, six hurt

A construction trailer came to rest on active tracks in Cary and was struck by an Amtrak train carrying 46 passengers, leaving at least six people hurt and forcing a major shutdown near NE Maynard Road and East Chatham Street.

Cary police said the trailer detached from a truck as it crossed the tracks and was sitting on the rails when Amtrak Train 72 came through around 2:05 p.m. Wednesday. The collision happened in a busy part of downtown Cary, not far from the Cary Amtrak Station, where regional rail traffic shares space with roads, commuters and work vehicles every day.

Emergency crews said four people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. No one outside the train reported injuries, but the impact still shook a passenger rail line that serves Wake County and the wider Triangle. The train was running from Charlotte to Raleigh on the Carolinian route, which links Charlotte with New York City and stops in Raleigh and Durham.

WRAL reported that the train hit and flipped the stalled trailer, and that NE Maynard Road remained closed for more than seven hours before reopening. The closure backed up traffic ahead of the evening commute and brought Cary police, Cary Fire Department, Amtrak personnel and CSX Transportation personnel into the response as debris was cleared from the scene.

The central safety question is why a construction trailer was left in the path of an active passenger train at one of Cary’s most recognizable rail crossings. The details point to a breakdown in towing, loading or crossing procedures, all of which matter in a corridor where trains, trucks and pedestrians move close together.

State transportation officials have said the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division works through the Crossing Hazard Elimination Program to reduce highway-railroad crossing crashes by adding warning devices, eliminating redundant crossings and other safety measures. The Cary crash puts fresh attention on whether more protection is needed around rail crossings where construction equipment can become a deadly obstruction in seconds.

The incident also came after another serious Cary rail emergency in September 2024, when a man was hit and killed by an Amtrak train while standing on the tracks. With Wednesday’s crash, a familiar stretch of track in downtown Cary again became the scene of a sudden rail disruption, this time with passengers, workers and commuters all caught in the fallout.