Commuter rail train strikes car on tracks in Hamilton

An MBTA commuter rail train struck a car that got stuck on tracks in Hamilton after an elderly woman mistook them for a street around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, officials said.

The woman was driving near Asbury Streetwhen she turned onto the tracks, drove a short distance, and became stuck, MBTA Transit Police Superintendent, Richard Sullivan, said in an e-mail.

She then got out of the vehicle and moved a safe distance away, before a train on the Newburyport line stuck the vehicle a short time later, Sullivan said.

The vehicle had “substantial damage,” but the train and tracks were not damaged, he said.

“The vehicle will have to be towed from the scene,” Sullivan said. There were no reported injuries, he said.

Passengers on the inbound Newburyport 160 train were “accommodated by other modes to their destination,” Alana Westwater, a spokeswoman for Keolis, said in an e-mail, The crash also caused some “residual delays” on the Newburyport branch.

The 6:40 p.m. train from North Station was forced to stop in North Beverly, and was running 15 to 25 minutes behind schedule, the MBTA Commuter Rail said on Twitter.

“We encourage passengers to follow @MBTA_CR for the most update service information,” Westwater said.