BIDDEFORD, Maine — Authorities have yet to release the name of the individual hit and killed by a southbound Amtrak Downeaster train Monday afternoon in Biddeford.
“We do not have an identity of the trespasser” to report, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole told the Bangor Daily News in a voice message on Tuesday, adding that authorities do not have a timetable for releasing the individual’s name.
In a follow-up email, Cole declined to say whether investigators are still working to determine the identity of the person fatally injured in the accident, or whether they are withholding the name while they seek to notify the individual’s family members, a common delay in the reporting practices of law enforcement agencies.
Cole wrote that “our investigation is continuing and we do not have any additional information other than the basic facts released” Monday.
The Biddeford Police Department on Tuesday referred questions about the accident to Amtrak.
The 686 train, which left Portland heading south at 2:35 p.m. Monday, hit a pedestrian trespassing on the tracks about 400 feet west of Main Street in Biddeford at around 3 p.m., Pan Am Railways Executive Vice President Cynthia Scarano told the Bangor Daily News. Pan Am Railways owns the railroad the Downeaster travels on.
Jazmine Stammel, 13, told the Journal Tribune she witnessed the accident while riding her sister’s scooter.
“I heard the whistles and then I saw a beige blur,” Stammel, who lives five houses from the railroad tracks, told the Biddeford-based newspaper. “I was curious and I was circling, and then I saw a leg. I was completely confused.”
The incident caused the southbound train to be delayed by more than two hours as police investigated the scene and a new crew was brought in to operate the Downeaster during the remainder of its run to Boston.
Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, the public transportation agency that oversees the Downeaster, said it is standard policy to replace the crew after a fatal accident because the event is traumatic. Quinn said Monday that 61 passengers were onboard the Downeaster at the time, and nobody on the train was hurt in the incident.
“We do not have an identity of the trespasser” to report, Amtrak
spokesman Cliff Cole told the Bangor Daily News in a voice message on
Tuesday, adding that authorities do not have a timetable for releasing
the individual’s name.
Nice, Amtrak, demonize the victim. As dumb as is walking on active train tracks, it’s pretty defensive and cold to say it was the “tresspasser’s” fault. Why not say it’s sad and let it go?
First, the statement was factual: the person was trespassing.
Second, Amtrak didn’t blame the person.
Third, it was the pedestrian’s fault, as trains take awhile to stop and can’t steer away. The train always has the right-of-way.
See my other post it could be the trains fault if it was going faster than it should have. We do not know all the facts. The train people never talk about the suction affect of being near a high speed train.
The Downeaster is not a high speed train. Not by the American definition (which is pathetically slow), and certainly not by the worldwide definition. Even America’s fastest train, the Acela Express, has not been sucking people to their deaths.
For all the thoughtless and cruel people saying it was this man’s fault, you should be absolutely ashamed at yourselves. This person was a father a, husband and someone’s son. It’s bad enough that the story blames him.
The truth hurts sometimes. The railroads have been proactive in telling the people the dangers of not paying attention when near train tracks and the dangers of walking on tracks. People need to listen (especially portrait photographers who think it’s cute to pose a person on tracks) to the warnings.
Of course, in this particular case, it is possible that the victim intended to be hit. Even if this turns out to be the case, let’s not try to brush aside the realities of suicide. (The news media never did a follow-up on why a man driving on I-95 two years ago suddenly drove off the road, went onto the median for several hundred feet, and smashed head-on into a abutment to an overpass.)
The story lays no blame whatsoever. It simply relates that the Amtrak spokesperson identifies the person as what he was: a trespasser. By doing so, perhaps the story will save the life of another person who didn’t realize how dangerous the practice of trespassing on train tracks is. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the story or Amtrak’s description. The fact is, he put everyone on that train in danger and caused psychological damage to the poor train personnel who will undoubtedly have a hard time getting over this. The only thing wrong here is your buying into the lack of responsibility rampant in our culture.
let’s navigate through the facts, shall we?
fact #1. the story doesn’t blame the victim.
fact #2. the victim was trespassing
fact#3. there is never a good time to walk/run/crawl/play/lay/sleep/fornicate or any other activity on or near railroad tracks.
fact #4. fact #3 is common knowledge and those who put themselves in harms way are accepting potentially fatal risks.
fact #5. the fact that this is someones child or parent is of no consequence to this argument. it’s sad no matter who it is.
fact#6. sadness of the incident doesn’t change or eliminate fault.
fact #7. you should be ashamed for telling the people that are dealing in facts that they should be ashamed.
These accidents are much more common In Europe. A friends father was sucked under a train . I guess just being near a high speed train makes a suction that can draw you under it. We do not know the whole story here . Please do not blame the victim till we know.
The Downeaster does not travel anywhere near as fast as European passenger trains. I’ve stood next to the railroad crossing in Scarborough where the Downeaster’s fastest speeds occur (79 MPH) and I was not sucked under the train. The Downeaster goes considerably slower than that in Biddeford, due to the proximity to the Saco train station (they’re either slowing down to stop at the station or trying to get back up to speed after being stopped there. Trains aren’t Ferraris; it takes them a while to get up to speed).
Claw 19 you are correct, but I’d like to add one more item above #1.
Trains move in a predictable path. Walk a few feet from the tracks and you are safe, even if you are trespassing. Walk between the rails and don’t expect the train can steer out of your path.