High-speed train kills woman and 8 year-old boy in Connecticut

High-speed Acela Express slammed into a car at a railroad crossing killing A woman and her 8-year-old grandson and trains between Boston and Washington were delayed for hours on Wednesday morning.

The woman's 4-year-old granddaughter was airlifted to Hartford, where she was listed in critical condition at Connecticut Children's Medical Center Wednesday evening.

The accident happened just after 7:40 a.m. on the southbound tracks 2 miles west of New London, Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell said.

The Acela Express runs between Boston and Washington, D.C. None of the 116 passengers and four crew members on the train were injured, police said. They remained on the train for about three hours before being taken to New London, where they were able to board other trains.

Connell did not know how many passengers the line serves each day or how many in the region were affected by Wednesday's delays.

Train service, which was halted for about six hours, resumed by 2 p.m.

"I'm sure we've created quite the havoc on the Northeast Corridor today," said Waterford Police Lt. Jeffrey Nixon, reports Newsday.

According to The New York Times, Mr. Eccard, the first selectman of Waterford said Patricia Metzermacher, 61, and her 8-year-old grandson, Zachary Metzermacher, were killed in the collision, just down the street from their home.

A rescue crew extracted her granddaughter, Courtney Metzermacher, from the wreckage and the girl was flown by helicopter to Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Mr. Eccard said. She was later transferred to the adjacent Connecticut Children's Medical Center, where she was in critical condition, according to a medical center spokesman, Christopher Boyle.

Mr. Eccard said the town's director of planning, Thomas Wagner, was an eyewitness to the accident. He said Mr. Wagner told police that the gates at the crossing worked properly and were lowered to block traffic before the train passed through the crossing,. Mr. Wagner was unavailable to comment because he was meeting with a trauma counselor, Mr. Eccard said.

Local police and Amtrak police are investigating to determine why the car was on the tracks, Mr. Eccard said. He said he could not recall another accident at that crossing in the last 28 years.