Metro-North Track Worker Fatally Struck by Train

A track worker was struck and killed by a train at a Metro-North station in Connecticut that is under construction, the railroad said. 

Spokesman Aaron Donovan said the worker was hit by a train around noon at the site of the future West Haven Metro-North train station. The cause of the accident is under investigation, he said, and the worker's identity was not immediately released.

Train service is suspended in both directions between Milford and New Haven. Donovan said the railroad is arranging to have buses provide service between those two stations.

The accident came less than two weeks after a train derailed in Bridgeport, injuring more than 70 people and disrupting service for days on the railroad used by tens of thousands of commuters.

The death did not occur near the derailment site.

On May 17, the eastbound train from New York City derailed during evening rush hour in Bridgeport, came to a stop and was struck about 20 seconds later by a westbound train, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The westbound engineer applied the emergency brakes before striking the eastbound train, NTSB said.

The NTSB has ruled out foul play but is investigating the cause of the derailment.

The NTSB said Friday that a joint bar, used to hold two sections of rail together, had been cracked and repaired last month and that rail sections in the area of the derailment have been shipped to Washington for further examination.

Adam Lisberg, a Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman, said the joint bar was replaced.

The engineer of the commuter train that derailed observed an "unusual condition" on the track before the wreck, federal officials said Friday without explaining what the condition was.

Metro-North railroad is conducting an inspection and inventory of all the joint bars on its main tracks, NTSB said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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