Amtrak train derails in Michigan after colliding with vehicle on track

An Amtrak passenger train with more than 200 passengers on board derailed Thursday evening in Michigan after hitting a vehicle on the tracks; There were no immediate reports of injuries, the national railway company said.

Amtrak said the accident happened around 10 p.m. near New Buffalo, Michigan, a township near Lake Michigan about an hour’s drive east of Chicago. The train, with six crew members and an estimated 218 passengers on board, had been traveling west toward Chicago from Pontiac, Michigan, and remained upright after the derailment, the company said.

No other details about the accident were available early Friday. A police dispatcher for Berrien County, where New Buffalo is located, declined to comment.

Experts say derailments usually happen when a train takes a turn too quickly — one reason that automatic braking technology has been installed on many passenger railroads in the United States in recent years.