5th person in 17 days fatally struck by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority train

Several pedestrians have died recently after being hit by a Massachusetts train and most, if not all, were of no fault of the train personnel.

According to police, on Wednesday, at 9:35 a.m., the MBTA commuter rail operations center informed the Cohasset Police that a person had been struck by a train traveling from Scituate toward Boston. The incident occurred between the Sohier Street crossing and the Rocky Lane bridge. 

Cohasset police and fire units were dispatched to the scene and attempted to provide lifesaving aid to the victim, but unfortunately, their efforts were unsuccessful. 

The Greenbush Commuter Line was shut down for approximately four hours while investigators from Cohasset, Transit, and State Police/Norfolk DA processed the scene and removed the victim. 

Identifying information about the victim is being withheld pending family notification. 

The fatality is the 5th in less than 3 weeks.

According to the Superintendent of the Transit Police Department, Richard Sullivan, on March 29th, an adult male who was hit by a train in Brockton on Friday evening committed an intentional act.

“On behalf of the Transit Police and the entire MBTA organization we express our most sincere condolences to the decedent’s family and friends.”

Sullivan stated there would be no further updates.

Also on March 29th, a pedestrian was killed by a train at approximately 10:00 a.m. near Fieldston Street in Springfield.

At around midnight, on March 24th, a pedestrian was fatally struck in the area of West and Pine Streets in Abington. Sullivan stated that it was an intentional act by the pedestrian.

The name of the victim was not released.

On March 16th, the Transit Police Department received an emergency dispatch from a commuter rail train advising of a pedestrian strike at the Birch Street railroad crossing east of the intersection of North Avenue and Railroad Street in Abington. The unknown
male victim, later identified as 56-year-old Scott Sherman, was pronounced deceased by a first
responder with the Abington Fire Department.

Preliminarily, investigators found no mechanical faults on the train by MBTA operators, and the train was travelling below the 70-mph speed limit at the time of the incident.