This story has been updated.

Update: Here is the official incident summary from Decatur Police:

On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at approximately 11:32 pm, Decatur Police responded to an accident involving a train and a truck at the intersection of East Trinity Place and South Candler Street. The accident investigation revealed a white Ford pickup truck was being operated by a contractor performing maintenance on the roadway at this location. The truck was left improperly parked, with the tailgate portion of the vehicle blocking the train tracks. A CSX train struck the vehicle, which was unoccupied at the time of the collision. After the collision, the truck was pushed into the crossing arm for the intersection. No one was injured during the accident. The driver of the truck was issued a citation for stopping on the railroad track.

Here is our previous story …

Decatur, GA — On Wednesday night, Decatur residents heard a train collision along East College Avenue in Decatur, according to a post on social media. Decatur Police responded to the scene at East College Avenue near the Trackside Tavern around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19.

A private contractor was doing road work on East College Avenue and was parked too close to the railroad track.

“Long story short, a white pickup truck driven by a traffic control company out here working on College left the tail end of the truck hanging over the railroad truck, and the train was coming eastbound and hit said truck,” Decatur Police Sgt. John Bender said. “Nobody was in it. Nobody was hurt. No injuries. Nothing like that. Obviously, the truck got damaged and towed out.”

The crash also damaged a guardrail, Sgt. Bender said.

CSX workers were on the scene making repairs. Overall, it was a minor incident involving a train.

City Manager Andrea Arnold recently addressed residents’ concerns about train safety and how the city would respond to a crash if a major incident were to occur, like a derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals, like an incident that recently occurred in Ohio.

In response to those questions, which Decaturish forwarded to the city, City Manager Andrea Arnold read a lengthy statement during the Feb. 21 City Commission meeting detailing the city’s preparedness plans and explained how the city would work with other agencies in the event of a similar disaster occurring in Decatur.

The short version is: the city has thought about this, and there is a plan in place. But, Arnold added, any such derailment would be inherently “Complex and chaotic.”

Click here to read her full explanation of the city’s response plan.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Editor and Publisher Dan Whisenhunt contributed to this story.