May 14, 2007 - The moving train was going slowly when the two trains bumped, but it was fast enough to leave 35 people banged up and bruised. The accident involved an R6 train bound for Norristown hit with an R5 train headed for Doylestown, according to SEPTA.

For over an hour, stretcher after stretcher of SEPTA passengers and staff were transported to four different area hospitals after the frightening crash at the height of the evening commute.

"Everyone hit the floor that was standing," said Michelle Clarke.

The 3-and-a-half month pregnant woman was on the R6 train when it had stopped in the Market East tunnel. A few minutes later she felt a powerful jolt. The R5 train had smacked into the back end of the 6. Officials said the moving train was only going about 10 miles an hour, but the impact was powerful enough to toss people out of their seats.

"There was a woman a few rows in front of me that smacked her head pretty hard and her nose was bleeding and you could tell there were cuts and scrapes," said Clark.

Several people who were on one of the trains e-mailed Action News.

"I was on the R5 and we just left the station, the air brake released and WHAM, we hit something solid and hard. The train jolted to a stop. Most injuries were people in the front cars, which are the older style where most were riding backwards," wrote Robert Schaffer of Lansdale.

Dave Long, who was on the R6, wrote, "In our train there were several conductors who fell and were hurt. I'm a nursing student, so I tried to help. There were a couple of doctors and several nurses that helped some of the injured. Two of the conductors on the R6 had hit their heads. One had hurt his arm and was in some pain. Several of the passengers complained of knee pain."

The trains were still functioning so officials decided to move them out of the tunnel to 10th and Berks. The stop was also closer to Temple University Hospital and there was more room to set up an onsite triage.

Clarke said she never saw nor heard from a SEPTA official and ended up getting on another train to go home.

Authorities do not know what caused the accident, but are looking closely at human error by one of the engineers.

"Trains are never under any circumstances supposed to be close enough to make contact so we take that very seriously and will be investigating that very seriously," said James Jordan of SEPTA.

This investigation is in its infancy, but both federal and local officials are involved. SEPTA said its first official meeting with the city will be on Wednesday.

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