LITTLETON, Colo. -- A 16-year-old cheerleader whose car was hit by a train earlier this month slipped from serious to critical condition over the weekend, hospital officials said.

Maureen Martin remains in a coma at Swedish Medical Center.

"There was a problem with Maureen's trach tube overnight on Thursday, Nov. 21 -- Friday, Nov. 22, and that incident is what caused her to be moved from serious to critical condition," hospital spokeswoman Ramonna R. Tooley said Monday. "There is a fine line between critical and serious condition and it is not uncommon for a patient in a coma to move back and forth between the two conditions."

Martin suffered injuries to her brain and right eye when her car was hit Nov. 12 by a Union Pacific coal train at a crossing in Castle Rock.

Her boyfriend, Vinny Veruchi, 16, tried unsuccessfully to ram Martin's stalled car off the tracks with his vehicle. Veruchi wasn't injured in the accident.

While the Castle Rock teen is fighting for her life, city leaders are trying to do something to prevent a similar tragedy.

The City Council on Monday night started to discuss proposals to slow down or even stop the trains that run through Castle Rock, 7NEWS reported.

The issue has some members of the community upset and they want immediate action because many other drivers, especially Douglas County High School students, drive over the tracks on their way to school.

About 40 trains go through Castle Rock on a daily basis, and local residents said Martin's accident is a perfect example of why something needs to be done. But national railroad officials say lowering the trains' speed isn't the answer.

"What we've found time and time again is lowering train speed is not the issue. The issue is helping the public observe local traffic safety laws," Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatau.