New Canaan Bound Metro-North Train Hits Car in Glenbrook [Updated, VIDEO]

Update: 6:35 p.m.

AT&T employees Rich Thomas, 40, and Ron Racaniello, 35, may very well be the first responders in today's train vs. car accident in which an 80-year old woman was injured while driving her '91 Cadilac.

"Adrenaline gets to you when something like this happens, and you just respond," Thomas said. Racaniello stated that he and Thomas were working at 10 Riverbend when they "heard a loud bang".

"We ran up through the trees, then ran up to the car," Thomas said. According to the two men, they had to extinguish smoke that was coming from the car before they could assist the elderly woman. It was at that the men noticed that woman was beginning to wake up.

"I was able to comfort her until the paramedics showed up," Thomas said. "Thank God she's ok."

Original Story

A Metro-North train heading to New Canaan hit a car on Riverbend Drive South in Stamford Tuesday afternoon, injuring the vehicle’s elderly driver and suspending service to New Canaan for about three hours, according to the MTA.

MTA Spokesperson Marjorie Anders said the train hit the 1991 Cadillac DeVille at approximately 12:05 p.m. The 80-year-old driver was alone in the vehicle, Anders said, and was conscious when she was removed from the car. She was transported to Stamford Hospital. Anders said she is expected to survive.

Anders said she does not know the circumstances of the accident, but told Patch there are no gates at the crossing, only flashers. She said the flashers were working and the train was sounding its horn as it approached the intersection.

“The protection implemented is a function of the CT DOT,” she said. “They have a formula based on traffic and what else is around the area.”

The train left Stamford at 11:57 a.m. for New Canaan. There were 13 customers and three crew members aboard. Anders said there were no other injuries.

This is the in just over a month. On Aug. 17, a car being driven by a 92-year-old man was hit at the Camp Ave. crossing in Darien.