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Woman hit, killed by train at Stony Brook

The Orange Line was shut in both directions after a woman was struck by an inbound train at Stony Brook around 2:45 p.m.

The station was evacuated and the T put together alternate bus service in both directions between Forest Hills and Ruggles.

Her death comes the day after riders at the Mass. Ave. station helped a man off the tracks after he'd fallen on them.

Update: Transit Police report the victim was white, apparently in her 30s and was near the south end of the station when hit.

UPDATE, 6:10 p.m. Service has resumed, but is a mess.

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Comments

Most of these are suicides. It's not responsible to report them as suicides because it encourages others - but at the same time, it really, really sucks that the MBTA police feel the need to act like the person committed a crime when the "perp" is dead. It's a slap in the face to their family and friends, and pointless. The purpose of the criminal justice system is to hold people accountable for crimes; that's impossible with someone who is dead. What are you going to do? Arrest them? Bring them to trial? Imprison them? Fine them?

People don't jump in front of trains because they're being "selfish" or "assholes" or "cowards" or trying to make you late. They jump in front of trains because their self-preservation instincts are gone, and/or they're mentally ill, and/or they're incapable of logical thought. They pick trains because it's perceived as being instant and highly "reliable".

The causes can be circumstantial, both short term (like loss of a loved one, loss of a home, financial destitution, criminal charges) or long; it can be from conditions like PTSD; it can be from chemical imbalance in the brain; it can be from injuries like brain trauma (especially repetitive, which is why so many football players kill themselves); it can be from medication; it can be from abuse, and no, not just the stereotypical wife-beating man - childhood abuse, bullying, etc.

"Why would someone kill themselves when life is so awesome?"
http://depressioncomix.tumblr.com/post/24306994658...

"People who kill themselves are cowards"
http://depressioncomix.tumblr.com/post/26442987324...

"I don't get suicide. Why can't they just get over it?"
http://depressioncomix.tumblr.com/post/31816391670...

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= MBTA code for suicide. "Sick passenger/Ill passenger" = MBTA code for all other medical issues.

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More than 400 people are killed by trains every year, and not all of them are suicides. Drunks fall on them, kids misjudge how fast the train is moving, the incautious get trapped on a bridge. In all cases the individual is on the track inappropriately, thus the standard phrase trespassing. It is not a judgement on their motives, but a simple statement of fact.

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In this context, trespassing means the person deliberately entered the track area, as opposed to accidentally falling there. Calling it a suicide is drawing a conclusion; there could be other explanations, so it's proper for the MBTA Police to report just the known circumstances of the unfortunate incident. I feel bad for the officers that had to respond to this; it's a job I wouldn't want to do!

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in the brand new T Alert system. This is the first alert they sent out earlier on this incident:

Shuttle buses replacing Orange Line service due to medical emergency

Affected stops:
Roxbury Crossing Station
Jackson Square Station
Stony Brook Station
Green St. Station
Forest Hills Station

Last updated: Jun 5 2013 2:49 PM

I guess stating "Shuttle Buses replacing Orange Line service between Forest Hills and Ruggles" in the title line (as would have been done under the old system) was beyond the intelligence level of the person who prepares the alerts.

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More than likely, the person sending out the alert has a little tick box for each of those. "Okay, send out an alert for a medical emergency on the Orange Line." Next, a window pops up and lets them select the stops. Click click click, and away we go.

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instead of hiring a person capable of writing alerts that are informative, concise, and short enough to be quickly read and easily understood, MBTA management chose to create yet another "idiot proof" automated system that produces alerts that don't even meet two of the three aforementioned goals, and barely meets the other goal. Worse yet, it's a system that's overseen by a human being anyway.

With respect, I find it hard to believe that anybody would seriously consider "ALL CLEAR (re: Orange Line replaced with shuttle buses due to medical emergency)" to be easier for passengers to quickly comprehend than "Orange Line now on or near schedule."

And, thank you for verifying my suspicions as to where the incompetence regarding this "improved" Alert system (at how many $$$$$$$ the T doesn't have to squander) really lies.

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And while those are the stops that are directly affected, of course the incident is going to ripple across the entire line. It's not as if someone going from Back Bay to Community College is going to have a perfect ride after the incident.

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Man, I wish I hadn't had my daughter with me today. Another mother and I, both with strollers folded up in one hand and our kids in the other, ended up having to run up and down the platform at Ruggles because we had no idea where the buses to FH were going to stop, no idea if they were going to open their doors, and no idea which were the actual shuttles and which were regular Ruggles bus routes. And of course there was no one from the T anywhere in sight.

I didn't want special treatment, but it would have been nice not to have to sprint after five buses with a crying child before finally getting on one.

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Single Tear....

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For whatever reason, probably mainly being drunk, too many people are falling or somehow getting onto train tracks.Trains entering any station need to be slow down and be prepared to stop. People will complain that this will slow service.... tough, lives are at risk

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Howzabout fencing that rises at platforms when a train gets ready to depart and lowers when it has stopped at a station? Why put all the responsibility on the train driver, when idiots on the platform are at fault? A fence helps protect them from themselves, and whoever wasn't holding the baby carriage that rolled over the edge.

Howzabout everyone wear a life jacket to swim anywhere, like riding a helmet to bicycle or motorcycle?

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"Howzabout fencing that rises at platforms when a train gets ready to depart and lowers when it has stopped at a station?"

The T can't even keep the trains running with any degree of efficiency whatsoever, do you honestly think they could manage anything like this? It would constantly break down or be in a state of disrepair. Constantly. Not to mention the three to five years (at least) they would take to install these at each station, given the T's record of improvements.

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"Howzabout fencing that rises at platforms when a train gets ready to depart and lowers when it has stopped at a station?"

The T can't even keep the trains running with any degree of efficiency whatsoever, do you honestly think they could manage anything like this? It would constantly break down or be in a state of disrepair. Constantly. Not to mention the three to five years (at least) they would take to install these at each station, given the T's track record of improvements.

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They totally do that in Asia. I have some reservations about the T's ability to retrofit all the stations with this, and be able to stop trains accurately enough that the train is in the right spot relative to the platform doors etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_screen_doors

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I realize this particular thread is about the Orange Line, but I'm going to point out that your idea can't be implemented on the Red LIne with its current mix of old and less-old cars. The older cars have three doors, while the newer ones have four.

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Ron makes a point about the doors on the Red.

And there are a few feet leeway at some stations (not much) and no train can stop on a dime. and we've all experienced the occasional station overshoot, forcing the operator to back 'er up.

Same is true of the doors on the K-cars and Bredas on the Green. It's close but not the same.

Sadly, as best we might try to protect human beings from themselves, it is just not always possible. Trains have been around well over 150 years and in all that time no one inventor has managed to come up with a system that is 100% foolproof. Even those foreign nations that have platform gates or fences don't advertise that no one will even be hit.

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Running the trains slowly enough to be able to stop them if someone falls/jumps in front of them wouldn't just "slow service", it would bring it to a virtual halt. These things just don't stop on a dime, period. When it comes to train vs. human, human will always lose.

Those who are suicidal are not going to be stopped, and those who are just stupid...Well, they're probably impossible to stop as well.

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I assume that you have the same attitude towards streets and that you support a 5 mph speed limit on all city streets.

People will complain that this will slow everything down too much, tough, lives are at risk...

Far more people are killed by cars and trucks than by trains in this country. In this state, even. We should do something about that.

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And drivers should be forced to slow down to 5 mph whenever they're passing an area where pedestrians are visible.

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