A man was struck and killed by a Metrolink commuter train shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Ruether Avenue and Golden Triangle Road. It was the second fatal train-vs.-pedestrian collision in that area in less than two weeks.
The fatality prompted the closure of the rail lines during the morning commute, and Metrolink was arranging alternate bus transportation for passengers stranded by the closure.
The death is being investigated Wednesday by Detective Roger Parge of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau, who collected video evidence of the collision from the train, as well as statements from the train’s engineering staff as the train remained stopped on the tracks in Canyon Country. Â
At the site of the collision, as detectives investigated the incident, a scene of grief played out just as it had last week at the same intersection, when an extremely distraught woman at the scene identified herself as the mother of the 21-year-old man killed when he was struck by a train in the evening on Labor Day.
On Wednesday morning, a woman sat crying on the sidewalk near the scene of the collision. She was being consoled by her friend Luis Hernandez, who said the man who was killed was her boyfriend.
Local resident Naomi Stenson stopped on Soledad Canyon Road, held her hands toward the group of grieving friends and family and said a prayer for them Wednesday morning before continuing on her morning commute near the bike path on the major street.
Throughout the morning, the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line account on X, formerly known as Twitter, provided updates for passengers who take the commuter train from stations in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys.
As of 10 a.m., the tracks remained closed and Train No. 212 was being held at the Via Princessa Station. The tracks reopened shortly after 11:30 a.m. and commuter train service resumed, with speed restrictions in the area near the collision scene.
The @MetrolinkAV account advised passengers to visit metrolinktrains.com/ubervouchers and metrolinktrains.com/qsp for information on how to receive reimbursement or Uber vouchers for alternate transportation.
The coroner’s office had not yet released the identity of the person killed as of Wednesday afternoon, pending the notification of his next-of-kin.
Update: AV Line 212 to Los Angeles will hold at Via Princessa due to track closure. Update to follow.
— MetrolinkAV (@MetrolinkAV) September 13, 2023
UPDATE: AV Line 212 to Los Angeles is on the move, delayed 1 hour & 15 minutes due to track closure.
— MetrolinkAV (@MetrolinkAV) September 13, 2023
This is a breaking news story and more information will be added as it becomes available.
Reporting from the scene by Senior Staff Writer Perry Smith.
