Friday, August 29, 2008

Pedestrian struck, killed by train on tracks

About midnight last night, a person was struck and killed by a commuter rail train along the tracks behind Conway Park.

The crash took place at 11:45 p.m. said Joe Pesaturo, MBTA spokesman. He has been tentatively identified as a 46-year old Somerville man.

MBTA Railroad Operations reported that Commuter Train #438 struck a trespasser at the Park Street Crossing in Somerville. Multiple Transit Police units were deployed along with Somerville Police, Fire and EMS units.

The commuter rail train was near Kent and Park streets, approximately behind Veterans Memorial RInk.

"It happened along the railroad right of way between Conway Park and Park Street. The call came in from the Transit Police at about midnight," said Somerville Police spokesman Paul Upton. "This is a very rare event in Somerville. We haven't had a person struck by a train in several years."

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Passengers on the train were bused to a station while investigators probed the cause of the crash.

"It's not known at this point why the man was trespassing on the railroad," Pesaturo said in an email. "The incident is under investigation by Transit Police and the Middlesex District Attorney's Office (CPAC Unit)."