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Person struck and killed by commuter-line train in Dedham

Transit Police report an outbound Franklin Line train hit and killed somebody who was on the tracks at the Cedar Street bridge around 6:15 p.m.

Foul play is not suspected.

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Comments

Bad day for trains. Worcester line this morning too.

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This is the second incident two homeless people were struck by a train in Natick. Who patrols the rails the state or local police?

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Both Transit Police and local police respond to trespassing on the rails. The problem is if someone wants to jump in front of a train, it's almost impossible to prevent. The police would like to save lives and certainly don't want to see these gruesome deaths but they are very hard to stop. The Transit Police have a good relationship with Boston PD and the local departments but they probably won't be able to stop someone from being on the rails in Natick or Dedham.

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Are kids these days ever educated about the danger of train tracks?

When I was growing up, I was under the impression that walking along train tracks was a normal thing. You see people do it in movies. It wasn't until I was in my 20's, and once went walking on the tracks, and was startled by the horn of a train coming up behind me faster and more quietly than I expected, that I realized how dangerous train tracks are.

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Metroliner and Acela (I think) can do 105mph. If you don't see it, you ain't ever going to hear it.
Commuter rail in Dedham isn't too fast, but then, if you look down and see shiny rails, get off them.

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The section in Ros/HP south of the trench in JP is rated at 110 mph. Only Acela and Amtrak Regional (they no longer use the Metroliner name) reach that speed in that section. Coming inbound they have to start decelerating at the trench because the speed is restricted to just under 35 mph approaching Back Bay since that accident many years ago that caused the roof (Dartmouth St) to require repairs after an MBTA loco went off the track and banged off it. MBTA only runs 59 mph in that stretch but will go up to 79 mph if not making stops but that is very rare.

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Still, I'm not going to walk on those tracks, since I usually hear them 20 seconds before they go by me.

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when a non-stopping northbound Acela comes through. You won't forget the experience.

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I don't think people are educated on just how *quiet* trains can be, especially when the engine is at the back of the train and pushing instead of at the front and pulling. Or when the train is coming down a gentle slope. They're about as quiet as an electric car.

Also, yesterday I learned a new phrase: "Trespasser strike". That's what the MBTA alert page said, and I had no idea what they were talking about. ("Trespassers are unionized now? Is that a thing?") Turns out it's the industry term for "train hit a person on the tracks (but not at a grade crossing)".

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There's a lot of educational material out there, aimed at various age groups- Operation Lifesaver is a big one (oli.org). Several freight companies put out materials as well (Norfolk-Southern). But I get the sense it's pushed more heavily in rural areas with a lot of freight traffic and (non-gated) grade crossings. I don't recall train safety ever being covered, just finding the odd pamphlet.

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It's already got three spams from, it looks like, India.
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/ippxspt.jpg)

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What is up with all those spam comments on their website, anyway? Every post on there seems to have spam and even links that are easy to accidentally click if using phone and scrolling. I would read them more often but the amount of spam turns me off.

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It says still under investigation but (yet again, for the umpteenth time) it also declares the victim a trespasser. Sounds to me like their investigation is already over. It's boilerplate, it's a facile trope. If they have evidence of the cause, then say what the evidence is, and fast, so that the situation can be corrected fast. People on here saying that train crash victims are jumping out, as if they are intending suicide, are just as willfully ignorant as the transit police have been about so many of the other pedestrian deaths which we have had a rash of throughout Massachusetts. In very few of them has there been any hint whatsoever, let alone proof, that the victim was suicidal. Stop trying to shift blame by impugning the innocent victim.

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Walking on tracks is forbidden to the point it is common knowledge. Sadly, people -- often kids -- cut holes in fences to create short cuts. Rail companies fix them and the holes get cut again, and again, and again... etc.

Trains cannot stop on a dime no more than an auto traveling at 60 mph can stop on a dime. Trains have more inertia and can take from 1/4 to 1 mile to stop depending on how fast they are going.

People on the tracks are either suicidal or ignorant. To be clear... "ignorant" means a lack of knowledge. The 3rd possible condition is that they are stupid or do not care. No matter what, they are a danger to themselves whether they know it or not.

Imagine sitting in the locomotive and bearing down at someone and unable to stop and have to watch the person in front of you get flattened -- or worse -- maybe even hear their death screams underneath you. Let's give some thought to them as well. Often they will be out of work (paid) for weeks during investigations, be put through drug tests, be put through physicals, and questioned endlessly to make certain it was not their fault or that of the railroad. They are just as much the victim. Many are never the same, and transfer out of train operations or change jobs completely. Many enter into counseling.

They are the silent victims.

Nationally, suicide by train -- all trains -- has been on the increase, and trespasser hits (strikes) have also increased. Crossing tracks with your iPod blaring in your ears to the point that you cannot hear the approaching train carries consequences. That's why there is a law forbidding using earphones while driving cars. And put the phone and the urge to text on Facebook away for the 30 seconds it will take to safely dross at a crossing. You'll be glad you did.

Darwin was right..

Loss of all human life is a sad and terrible thing, but can sometimes be prevented by just a little common sense.

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Again with the trespassing accusation. The victim may have been there other than by willful choice. He may have been suffering a health emergency or physical handicap, he may have been pushed or chased or coerced, he may have been going to the aid of someone else who was in danger - we don't know because NO evidence other than the S.O.P. trespassing claim by the transit police which is yet unproven. Your handle notwithstanding, I'll go out on a limb and say outright that you don't know squat more than we do about the circumstances leading up to this death. Can you explain otherwise ?

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It is not a value judgement and says nothing about why the trespasser was there.

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... there is no "bad" intent required for this legal offense.

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I was wondering last night why there were shuttle buses at Readville station.

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