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Amtrak train hits, kills man in Mansfield

Transit Police report an inbound Regional train from New York hit a man on the tracks near Norfolk Street in Mansfield around 11 a.m. - halting both Amtrak and commuter-rail service along the Northeast Corridor. Foul play is not suspected.

Helen Fuller, a New Yorker on the train, 190, reports passengers were being kept on the train - even after northbound service for other trains resumed - and that passengers were kept completely in the dark, even as they learned what was going on from just looking out the window and from social media:

11:29 a.m. I'm on train 190 that hit someone outside Mansfield, MA. We're told we'll be here indefinitely. Please provide update. #Amtrak

12:14 p.m. Conductors just said a train will come south for train to train transfer when Amtrak gives OK. Could be in 1-2 hrs.

12:18 p.m. Several people in our car are missing flights too.

12:36 p.m. The conductor in frustration announced that Amtrak is STILL trying to decide which train to convert to a rescue train to rescue us!

12:39 p.m. I just saw 2 policemen carry a body in a body bag past our car toward the front of the train. I am not taking a picture of that.

12:57 p.m. Still waiting for Amtrak to send rescue train. Conductor rightly ticked.

1:16 p.m. No power on Train 190? It's now getting hot.

1:20 p.m. (in response to news a train just left Boston for New York): Amtrak said no service until we're rescued. What is going on? Amtrak stop your silence!!

1:27 p.m. A NB Acela just passed us. You still can't send a train to rescue us? Conductors said the track was being kept clear for rescue!!!

1:45 p.m. [Amtrak tweets: Train is on the move. ETA RTE at 1:45p]

1:48 p.m. Now you tell everybody? Yes, we are at Route 128.

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Comments

I'm at South Station waiting for an Amtrak, they've announced all trains are being held here due to police action in Mansfield. Looks like I'll be here awhile.

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Yes, It is wrong that out dear National Passenger Railroad System cannot communicate with you, yes you. Yes, there are trains and there are train crews, but it is not like they are stationed like they are Strategic Air Command pilots sleeping next to a rescue train to come get you. Physics and time gets in the way of getting that train to you post-haste.

Someone died and you also choose a means of transport that takes away your independence. Sorry.

I hope as you alighted at South Station at 2:00 that you cured cancer, got rid of poverty, and brought back the unfortunate person that died Saint Helen Fuller. I guess Ben Carson isn't the only insufferable person at Johns Hopkins.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenfuller

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He's allowed to be annoyed - he was stuck on a train for 2 hours while they were telling him one thing and doing another. The conductor was annoyed for the same reason - is he allowed? Look at how pissed you got, enough to write this post, and you didn't have to wait in the dark for 2 hours on a train with the air off. Switch to decaf

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it is she telling us that the conductor was "frustrated" and "annoyed". It sounds like, to me, that she is the one sounding frustrated and annoyed. And, again, someone DIED. So not appropriate to complain on social media; really shows lack of class, in my opinion.

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The unfortunate reality is, people get hit by trains. It happens. It happens often enough that Amtrak ought to have a well defined protocol for dealing with it, rather than running around without a clue. There's really no excuse for not keeping the passengers informed.

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People who take the train aren't allowed to ask for updates? Annoying car driver example #998789332. Signing your paycheck over to Exxon Mobil doesn't seem very "independent" to me.

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I take this under advisement as I take the T home tonight. I appreciate your comments, but please do realize that Amtrak was giving updates, they just didn't seem to please her enough.

There are some courses in reading comprehension that are offered at our local community colleges in case you need additional help in understanding what she wrote above.

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1) As someone who frequently used the comforts of wi-fi enabled, AC plug having Amtrak trains with restrooms and dining cars to watch movies while flying past cars gridlocked on the highways between New York and Boston, I question your assertion that "you chose a means of transportation that takes away your independence." How free is it to be trapped on a highway in Connecticut for eight hours as hundreds of people zoom past you on a train that's going to take half the time?

2) Adam, the link to Helen Fuller's LinkedIn should be promptly taken down. It's not relevant and it is harassing.

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I find it unsettling that people have taken the side of someone more concerned about her arrival time in Boston and her being kept up to date on her terms over the death of someone. Guess what? The train crew was trying to deal with the situation and most likely the operator's mental health rather than make sure 140 character updates went out.

What kind of self centered meism has taken over these boards?

Someone died. You cannot just pick up the body and roll it off to the side so your Metroliner can make it on time to whatever thing you had to do today.

I guess a lot of you would root for the bad guys. Fair play then. I hope your pet rat says hi to you when you get home tonight.

Also, if you are going to feign so much moral authority and righteousness, get a user name. Thanks.

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Someone died. You cannot just pick up the body and roll it off to the side so your Metroliner can make it on time to whatever thing you had to do today.

I don't believe the primary complaint pertained to the delay; it pertained to the lack of clarity and conflicting updates from Amtrak.

There was a train that, for perfectly good and valid reasons, couldn't be moved. This isn't a rare occurrence; any halfway well run organization would have a plan for dealing with it. Look at the Boston Fire Department, for example. When a piece of equipment is unavailable, and a call comes in, they don't run around scratching their asses figuring out how to cover it; they pull out a list, read down to "Ladder 271," read across to "Ladder 103" and then dispatch Ladder 103. (I'm making up these numbers.)

There's absolutely no reason that Amtrak couldn't make up a contingency schedule and then just execute it: "What are you going to do if Train 271 derails next Tuesday afternoon at mile 71?" Maybe they do have one, maybe they just failed to communicate with the passengers. I don't know, and neither do the passengers who were on that train.

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A fire truck can easily move through streets, many streets. A train cannot. It is limited from a train yard, that being most likely South Bay or Pawtucket, and then only if a train is available along with a crew to move that train. There are a finite amount of trains and a finite amount of crews. If anyone knows the hell that the Providence Attleboro corridor can be, you can see that it is hard to rub a lamp and watch a many ton passenger train just appear. In theory it could happen but the ticket from Penn Station to Boston would be $350 to cover the chance of a 105 minute inconvenience.

Why can't people understand this? The most logical thing to do is to hold the train until the all clear is given. In that way you do not have to get everyone off of the train including luggage, walk them to a new train, make sure all are safe, and then get underway.

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Opinions aside, your tweet to her shows your character. I hope after you settle down you reflect on why that was less than appropriate.

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And being rude about it. If you had reading comprehension, you could compare her comments to the timeline.

According to the news, the guy was hit around 11am. Her first comment starts 1/2 hour later. During that half hour, she's been on a train with no power and not allowed to get off. Under different circumstances, it would be considered unlawful imprisonment to hold someone (in a well lit air conditioned room!).

They didn't announce a guy was hit until around 12 - 1/2 hour after her first comment and an hour after he was hit. Didn't announce he was dead until around 1 - at that point she knew but has been held for 2 hours at that point. They can access the news and social media but weren't getting much news from Amtrak and could see other trains coming through.

According to her time line, it was almost 3 hours of this before the rescue train they'd heard so much about was coming. They were literally kept in the dark that whole time. She could have walked to boston at that point.

Her main complaint was lack of communication from Amtrak while she sat there sweltering in the dark with others who were also pissed, including Amtrak employees. She was being promised a rescue train "soon" and seeing other trains come through.

I'm sure it feels lonely to be the only person who "gets it" but you aren't the only person who recognizes someone is dead. You think you're morally superior to this woman when you've gone on a stalking online rampage against her from being momentarily annoyed. Imagine how awful you'd be after sitting three hours in a hot dark room being lied to. If the comment here that you tweeted her is true, you're the monster.

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Wow i so have too agree....wow ..are u kidding takes away ur independence am i reading that right seriously????? The train didnt kill ur country somone lost there life somones son, brother,husband ,dad,and ur stuck on a confortable train breathing and alive and u will get to ur destination a little late so what suck it up ur everyone on the train is gonna be late ,thats why they call accidents ..accidents ...u will live trust me and ur independence. .wow how insensitive. ..i would understand if the conductor stopped to grab a pack of butts grab a beer ....somone died u will eventually get there that was by far the dumbest comment ever...oh while ur worrying about being stuck on a train a 13 yr old was killed by a bus is mansfeild also yup horrible tragic and very sad im just glad u wernt held up at that accident...posting ur rediculous comment two families lost somone wed in the same town try thinking of that and be happy urs are alive and ur ok ..i hope everyone gets to there destination safe and def running late running behind is really a pain and things get rearranged....but its fix able this is NOT should be ashamed of that comment just unreal how selfish and insesitive some can be my thoughts and prayers too both families and all crew members police fire cleanup crew and passengers that have been effected...discusted boston girl 617

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So, in this case the train didn't sneak up on anyone to hit them? Are there cases where trains have been suspected of foul play? It just seems like an odd statement for police to make in this situation.

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As in "We don't believe that somebody pushed this individual into the path of the train" or "We don't believe that this person was shot or stabbed, causing him to fall into the path of the train", or, "There's no evidence that Snidely Whiplash tied this person up and left him to be run over by the train", etc, etc. ...

In other words, it's a perfectly reasonable statement for the police to make in this instance.

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You're thinking of Oil Can Harry!

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I can think of at least three Dudley Do-Right shorts where Whiplash's obsession with tying people to railroad tracks was the principal theme of the episode. So, and with respect, I stand by my original comment.

Disclaimer - I've been a huge fan of all things Jay Ward since about the age of four. Never liked Mighty Mouse (which Jay Ward had no involvement in) though.

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... Snidely Whiplash definitely did some track tying...

I don't think Jay Ward worked on Mighty Mouse -- but he was one of the creators of Crusader Rabbit.

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didn't work on Mighty Mouse - I've clarified my previous comment. And I do remember Crusader Rabbit - that was the subject of one of my first coloring books at the age of 3 1/2.

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... the screen tracing kits that you could get for Crusade Rabbit?

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(or even knew of them as a kid). Just the coloring book.

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... and never really worked. I don't think this existed for any show except Crusader Rabbit (circa 1956?)

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You couldn't figure out the police meant "Nobody pushed him on the tracks, he wasn't shot first, etc."

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He's still confused, trying to figure out the part about how people travel from place to place without using a car.

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The train's engine did not cease functioning but a human being. So sorry you were inconvenienced due to someone's death.

But what can one expect from someone who tweets about Bill O' Reilly and Rush Limbaugh in the affirmative?

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She was expressing annoyance at the way Amtrak kept passengers completely in the dark until after the train was underway - except for telling them to expect a rescue train, which then never came.

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about expressing annoyance. Heck, I did my share over this past winter riding the T and commuter rail. In this case, however, I think low to complain about your inconvenience, when someone was killed, possibly via suicide.

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It might be a hard concept for you to grasp, but it is possible to both feel sympathy and express legitimate complaints about how a company's employees handle a crisis.

But I suppose if it was winter and at night and the power was turned off for six hours, that would be totally fine because, hey, someone died and there are bigger problems in the world.

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She didn't have any way to know WHY the train was stopped. So how could she bow down to that all too horrible tragedy that some people think means nobody can complain about anything?

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12:39 p.m. I just saw 2 policemen carry a body in a body bag past our car toward the front of the train. I am not taking a picture of that

Sounds like she figured out why the train was stopped once she posted that.

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She is a piece of crap !!!! Play by play of the victims accident on social media makes me sick.
Someone has passed away with a family left behind.
I can't believe someone could be so inconsiderate of other people.
Just stupid plain stupid!!!

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My buddy I stay with here in Ptown went to Philly today. He drives to Providence from here to catch the train (faster than driving), and he was pinging me for information (since I am Mr Transit). He also stated Amtrak pretty much kept people in the dark for well over 2 hours in Providence. I told him information after asking on Twitter. He said he knew more than Amtrak officials in Providence.

And thank you Adam for retweeting me so I could get information.. I appreciate that (and so does he). Once again Adam Gaffin for the win!

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I'm sure these people criticizing her never ever bitch about traffic, and if they do and it turns out the traffic was in part God forbid due to a fatal accident, they immediately prostrate themselves with grief and give thousands to the deceased's kids' college funds.

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My last cross country Amtrak run in 2006 was an exasperating affair of fits and starts from Seattle to Framingham where it ended up being 7 or 8 hours late.

It was probably dumb of me to pick September as my travel time as the rail system was crammed with freight hauling cheap Christmas crap from the Seattle port to Walmart DC's and such everywhere.

The worst was near the NY/Mass border where it sat in the woods for a few hours. No explanations,.. nothing.

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You are expressing relief that someone is dead. There are a few strong contenders for "Most Callous Comment" on this post, but that just might take the gold.

I know people in Mansfield, and I was sick with wondering if it could have been any of them. Since I've heard from all of them, I know it wasn't anyone I know and care about - but this person's family members, friends, loved ones, are probably grappling with some pretty intense grief right now.

But anyway, I hope the next Amtrak you take is delayed for 12 hours due to a veritable fleet of Walmart freight trains.

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To me, I was merely describing a different kind of delay. Piling on expressions of sympathy for the victim seemed like it was covered. The "at least" qualifier was to suggest this fatality was a legitimate reason for delay.

What do you do when you are not looking for callousness where none rests, Ms Tucker? And do you ever wonder what drives the pouncing instinct even when the quarry isn't much of a meal? Do you feel better about yourself now having 'showed me'?

Just wondering. It's like we got a new scold in town.

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Oh, I do all kinds of things. Read, write, watch movies, do crossword puzzles. Suitable activities for a nagging old schoolmarm, you know?

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The Boston-Albany section of the Lake Shore Limited is a particularly sorry excuse for passenger rail.

Besides the random freight-induced delays which typically take several *hours*, on top of a trip that's already much slower than driving, there's the scheduled hour+ of switching in Albany to connect or disconnect the Boston and New York halves of the train. Ancient decrepit rail systems in formerly-communist Eastern Europe manage to split and merge passenger trains in under 10 minutes, so why can't Amtrak?

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A dear friend of mine was hit and killed by an Amtrak train last summer, also in Mansfield. Having an idea of what this person's family and friends might be feeling makes it hard for me to sympathize with the travelers.

I take Amtrak a lot, and it sucks a lot. The number of delays, and the explanations for the delays, and the LACK of explanation for the delays all drive me batty. And it's not even like it's cheap. I was two hours late after a trip this summer, and was planning to write a scathing letter to Amtrak, when the derailment happened in Philly.

I couldn't be upset anymore, and I never bothered writing. Did I have a right to be upset? Yes. But thankfully I have enough perspective to see that what I went through was not that bad. Of course passengers should be updated, and I'm not defending Amtrak. But a travel delay isn't the end of the world, and I'm glad I have that clarity now—because I'm on trains a lot.

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I had to get home in a hurry to keep an appointment. Missed the 5:15 to Haverhill (which runs express from Malden to Wakefield) by about thirty seconds. Well, I was livid (cursing to myself, etc.). My frustration wasn't helped when the following train got to Melrose Highlands and just sat there.

Evenutally they put us on buses, and I finall made it home about two hours later than usual.

However, my increasing frustration over the situation totally evaporated once I learned that the 5:15 had hit a flatbed tractor trailer at the Forest Street crossing:

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAB9805.pdf

To this day, I no longer get angry when I happen to miss a train.

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Missing a train has nothing to do with randomly avoiding an accident.

What if you miss a train, and something happens to the next train?

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I think we also need to examine why this person died. Were they trespassing on the tracks? Did they stumble and fall? Could it have been a suicide? Sadly, suicide by train is on the increase nationwide.

Not all that long ago an elderly woman was killed at Mansfield simply because the air concussion of a passing Acela blew her over, and the subsequent fall was fatal due to her very advanced years.

If someone died it is a crime scene. Was it a homicide, suicide, accidental? Authorities need to make a determination and that takes time.

Now as to that "rescue train"... Really? If it was an Amtrak they don't have extra trains to send on the opposite track, and even if they did, they'd have to halt traffic on that track for miles in each direction per FRA and NTSB rules. Even getting a spare MBTA train to get you would not be easy.

So don't take this "rescue train" thing seriously. I think that was a stall tactic. Getting something like that is rarer than the accident experienced.

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does not automatically send out an investigator every time a pedestrian is struck by a train. While they are usually informed of such incidents after the fact, their decision on whether or not to investigate is based on the circumstances of any particular accident.

Given that this is not the first such incident that has happened at Mansfield, one option is that the NTSB could conduct a "special safety study" of the location. However, as the issue of pedestrian trespass on railroad rights of way is an ongoing concern of the NTSB, and has already been studied by them several times in the past, it is unlikely that they would focus on this particular location.

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Thank you for respecting the victim.
It was my nephew. Left a wife and children. Untreated depression.

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