Three Los Angeles Pedestrians Killed in Two Train Collisions in Ten Days
(Los Angeles, California – May 31, 2024 and June 9, 2024)
Three Los Angeles residents have sadly lost their lives after being involved in separate freight train collisions with an Amtrack Passenger Train and a Metro Light Rail Train. These tragedies took place within just ten days of one another.
The first collision occurred on Friday May 31st in the South LA area near Vernon Station, at around 1:45 pm after a man was struck by a southbound Metro A line train while walking across the tracks. According to reports by the Los Angeles Fire Department, the man was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Vernon Station is set above-ground and hosts twin tracks that run next to Long Beach Avenue and is run by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA). At peak hours, Monday through Friday, the station operates trains between every 8 – 10 minutes and at night and in the early morning trains run every 20 minutes. According to Federal Railroad Administration data, the Vernon Station crossing sees over 208 passenger trains a day traveling between 35 – 55 mph and has had five pedestrian train collisions since 2006 with the most recent in 2021.
The Los Angeles Police Department are still investigating this collision and a Metro spokesperson has offered Metro’s condolences to the man’s family and friends.
The second collision occurred earlier this week on Sunday June 9th in Van Nuys, Los Angeles located just north of West Hollywood about twenty-two miles from the first collision. The collision was reported at just before 9:30 pm on Woodman Avenue when two pedestrians were struck by a traveling southbound Amtrack Pacific Surfliner Train. According to initial reports, both victims were pronounced deceased at the scene and were described as a man and a woman both believed to be around 35 years old. No other passengers or crew were injured in the collision.
This incident took place on a multi-track railway line that is owned and maintained by Southern Pacific Railroad (SPR) and is set between Woodman Place and Saticoy Street. Both Amtrack and Southern Pacific have yet to release any statements or information about the incident.
At this time none of the victims’ identities have been released and it is still unknown for both collisions how fast the trains were approaching the individuals on the tracks or how long the individuals were on the tracks.
Additionally, according to the most recent Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) statistics, California ranks number one among states in total pedestrian casualties as of 2023. In 2023, there were 324 pedestrian/train casualties in California, with 190 deaths and 134 injuries. California also ranked number one in total pedestrian fatalities in 2022 as well.
