Browning man survives collision with train

Charges are pending against a 22-year-old Browning man after an Amtrak train hit a van he was driving Friday evening.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper James Humiston said the van was parked between two sets of tracks at the Pfifer crossing, a private-land access between Cut Bank and Browning along U.S. 2.

The driver, whose name the trooper declined to release, was intoxicated and alone in the van when the westbound train approached, Humiston said. Despite blowing the horn three times and putting the train into emergency stop, Humiston said the engineer was unable to avoid hitting the rear end of the Chevrolet Lumina van.

It took 1,000 feet to bring the train to a halt.

The Browning man suffered broken ribs and a possible spine injury, Humiston said. He was taken first to a Browning hospital, then life-flighted to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Humiston declined to give the exact reading but said the driver’s blood alcohol content was well above the legal limit. The young man also had no driver’s license, the trooper said.

Charges will be handled through the Department of Public Safety on the Blackfeet Reservation. There will be at least five citations, Humiston said, and possibly more.

The train was headed for Seattle, with a stop in Whitefish.