BIDDEFORD — A man was struck and killed on the Amtrak railroad tracks in Biddeford on Monday at about 3 p.m.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said the man, who was not identified as of press time, was “trespassing on the tracks” when the crash happened at a crossing on the rails.
Downeaster train 686, heading from Portland to Boston, sounded the whistle prior to the accident, according to witnesses.
There were no reported injuries to the crew or the 55 passengers on the train, said Amtrak spokeswoman Christina Leeds.
Thirteen-year-old Jazmine Stammel, who lives five houses away from the train tracks, said she saw the accident as she was riding her sister’s scooter.
“I heard the whistles and then I saw a beige blur,” she said. “I was curious and I was circling, and then I saw a leg. I was completely confused.”
The accident occurred about 100 yards away from the Main Street crossing, and a short distance from an open area that creates a short cut between Cutts Street and Western Avenue.
“This is a dangerous area,” said Virginia Norton, Stammel’s mother. “There are no barriers to the tracks. People, they just don’t care. They just walk through like nothing’s going to happen to them.
“We keep telling them (Amtrak) they should put a fence up, but they don’t care,” said Norton.
The train left Portland at 2:35 p.m. and was schedule to arrive in Boston at 5:05 p.m. Because of the accident, there was about a three-hour delay. The next train, scheduled to leave Boston at 5:40 p.m. and travel to Portland, was also delayed because the same train was scheduled to travel that route.
The Biddeford Police Department responded to the accident, as did officials from Amtrak and Pan Am Railways, which owns the area where the accident occurred, and the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, Maine’s public transportation authority that holds a contract with Amtrak to run the Downeaster.
Now that there has been a fatal accident, said Stammel, “maybe people will think twice before they cross the tracks.”
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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