” Spiffy looking train ” derails in snow

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Snow caused a light-rail train to derail during operator training in downtown St. Paul.

A Metro Transit spokesman says the lead car of a three-car train came off the Green Line tracks around 4 p.m. Wednesday after hitting snow from last week's snowstorm.

Only the operator was aboard and no one was hurt. The train was brought back on the tracks about two hours later.

Operator training began this week in preparation for the line's June 14 opening.

The derailment came after President Barack Obama was at St. Paul's Union Depot to announce a proposed $300 billion investment to update aging roads and railways. Obama boarded a different, parked train inside a nearby light-rail operations and maintenance facility but did not ride it. He called it "a spiffy-looking train."