NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah - Police in North Salt Lake released a dashboard camera video on Tuesday (Jan 24) showing a passenger train crashing into a FedEx cargo truck in a heart-stopping collision.

The video shows the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) FrontRunner train crashing into the semi-trailer truck, severing the vehicle and scattering packages across the road, ABC News reported.

"The first trailer behind the semi was pretty much cut in half by the train," Chief Jeff Barrett of the South Davis Metro Fire Department was quoted as saying.

"They quickly assessed the drivers, who were uninjured, and then we had crews get on the train and start evaluating passengers."

Mr Barrett told ABC News that none of the 82 passengers on the train reported any injury.

Preliminary investigation showed that the crossing gate arms were up at the time of the crash and the flashing lights and bells were not activated. Crossing gate arms should not have gone up when a train is approaching.

"In the event of a power outage or lack of signal, crossing gates are programmed to default to the 'down and active' position as a safety precaution. Preliminary information indicates the gates were affected by the severe ice and snow conditions at the time and were in the default "down and active" position, as they are programmed," UTA said in a news statement. After they remained in safety default mode for about 12 minutes, a crew was sent to the location to check. The gates subsequently moved to the up position.

Mr Remi Barron, a spokesman for the transit agency, told ABC News that the agency had not ruled out human error and was examining data from the crash site.