(Fresno County, California – March 11, 2022)
A female pedestrian from Fresno, California was killed last Friday morning just before 11:00 AM, CDT when she was attempting to cross BNSF tracks at a paved pedestrian crossing. The pedestrian was struck by an Amtrak train. The collision occurred near the roadway intersections of Santa Fe and West avenues, just south of Gettysburg Avenue.
At this time, it is unknown how fast the Amtrak train was traveling at the time of the incident, but Amtrak trains typically operate through this section of track at speeds up to 79 mph. There are lights and gates that warn vehicular traffic of oncoming trains, but there were no similar warning devices directed at pedestrians.
This is the second pedestrian/train tragedy to occur in Fresno in the last month. On February 28, 2022, another female pedestrian was killed by an Amtrak train near the roadway intersection of Dakota and Palm roads. That collision is still under investigation.