Another pedestrian struck by Amtrak train

[laura]

The officers eventually told us suicide by the way. It was no passenger or accident. This person was apparently on a mission to die. No hope for someone in that state of mind unfortunately...

 

[Ryan]

NEC tracks are fenced and have no grade crossings, so yeah. Most likely a suicide. :-(

Much of the NEC is not fenced.

And there are grade crossings (but not in that area).

 

[jis]

NEC tracks are fenced and have no grade crossings, so yeah. Most likely a suicide. :-(

Much of the NEC is not fenced.

And there are grade crossings (but not in that area).

There are no grade crossing in NEC South (I.e. NYP to WAS).
NEC tracks are now substantially fenced in NJ wherever it passes through populated areas and is not on relatively high embankment. Fences have never stopped determined trespassers. They just break the fence and create little holes in them for them to take their favorite short cuts.

Incidentally, a local official did say that this was a suicide, so Swadian, sorry, no murder or terrorism or other more off the wall occurrence here.

The train involved was Acela 2163 BOS - WAS service, running non-stop through Metropark on track 3, sometime around 3:30pm if it was running on time. Tracks started being reopened a little before 5pm. This was a remarkably fast recovery after a messy relatively high speed incident (around 100mph possibly). Apparently the initial tracks were opened even before the cleanup had been completed (as reported by Laura above). Apparently NJT had not anticipated such a quick reopening. They had to go about rescinding a bunch of cancellation that they had already announced out of Penn Station.

148 running on 652 schedule finally arrived Metropark 15 mins or so late on 652 schedule, 45 mins or so late on 148 schedule. It got stuck behind an NJT which was held outside Metuchen to allow Acela 2172 (I think) to get ahead of it on track 1 at Lincoln interlocking. Track 2 was operating westbound through the accident location.

 

[OBS]

NEC tracks are fenced and have no grade crossings, so yeah. Most likely a suicide. :-(

Much of the NEC is not fenced.

And there are grade crossings (but not in that area).

There are no grade crossing in NEC South (I.e. NYP to WAS).
NEC tracks are now substantially fenced in NJ wherever it passes through populated areas and is not on relatively high embankment. Fences have never stopped determined trespassers. They just break the fence and create little holes in them for them to take their favorite short cuts.

Incidentally, a local official did say that this was a suicide, so Swadian, sorry, no murder or terrorism or other more off the wall occurrence here.

The train involved was Acela 2163 BOS - WAS service, running non-stop through Metropark on track 3, sometime around 3:30pm if it was running on time. Tracks started being reopened a little before 5pm. This was a remarkably fast recovery after a messy relatively high speed incident (around 100mph possibly). Apparently the initial tracks were opened even before the cleanup had been completed (as reported by Laura above). Apparently NJT had not anticipated such a quick reopening. They had to go about rescinding a bunch of cancellation that they had already announced out of Penn Station.

148 running on 652 schedule finally arrived Metropark 15 mins or so late on 652 schedule, 45 mins or so late on 148 schedule. It got stuck behind an NJT which was held outside Metuchen to allow Acela 2172 (I think) to get ahead of it on track 1 at Lincoln interlocking. Track 2 was operating westbound through the accident location.

Agreed. I was very impressed with the minimal amount of delay. I was on 2165 and we were only about 1' 15" late into Was. They (Amtrak) have really made an effort, in recent years, to speed up recovery of operations when These situations occur. Years ago it was always a guarantee for 3-4 hour delays. Not anymore.

ETA, Conductors are instructed to warn people not to look outside when the specific area is approached. However it is just like people and car accidents, the opposite effect occurs, and everyone starts looking.... and many are then sorry they did!

 

[fairviewroad]

It seems trivial, but words are never as innocent as people think. One little tweak can change the entire meaning and perception without you even realizing it. While they were, technically, a pedestrian, trespasser is the more appropriate word. This is why news in the media - any media, whether it be print or televised - should always be taken with a grain of salt and carefully researched before forming an opinion.

First, I think your post is thoughtful and well-written.

But I will comment on your point that "words are never as innocent as people think." This is true. For instance, the word "trespasser" is a legal term. News outlets

are loathe to refer to someone who has not been convicted or plead guilty to trespassing as a "trespasser." That opens them up to a lawsuit from the deceased

person's family. Until a court of law weighs in, it is not factual to refer to the dead person as a trespasser. You can certainly quote a LEO or railroad officials as

saying that the deceased person was "trespassing on the tracks" but it is another thing entirely to use the word as a noun or adjective when referring to the

deceased individual.

In an online railroad forum, I'll concede that the word "trespasser" is appropriate in situations like this.

 

[SarahZ]

Excellent point, Fairview. I hadn't considered that.

 

[K]

This was my sister. She left us all notes before going to Metropark. NE933, it was helpful for me to read your story. She was probably thinking many of the same thoughts but the platform did not call her to come back.

 

[Ryan]

Sorry for your loss, K. It's a crappy situation for everyone involved.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

This was my sister. She left us all notes before going to Metropark. NE933, it was helpful for me to read your story. She was probably thinking many of the same thoughts but the platform did not call her to come back.

((HUGS))

 

[Bob Dylan]

RIP, sorry for your Loss!!!

 

[Ted Bell]

This was my sister. She left us all notes before going to Metropark. NE933, it was helpful for me to read your story. She was probably thinking many of the same thoughts but the platform did not call her to come back.

So very sorry for your loss K. May you find peace and comfort for you and your family during this difficult time.

 

[K]

I was there. 45 minutes late for work, very hard to get answers while the boards read the trains were on time, AND they started trains up before the body parts were covered. Not what I planned on seeing out the window during my ride before trying to sell food at my restaurant.... horrible occurrence of events for all parties.

I wish I could speak with you and get more information about my sister...

 

[engr08]

Another fatality last night on train 187 at Torresdale station.