Stay Off The Tracks!

It goes without saying that this is a tragedy, but it's a wholly avoidable one. A young woman was struck and killed by a New Jersey Transit train as it was leaving the Radburn, New Jersey station heading towards Hoboken. The woman was killed while attempting to cross the tracks where no such crossing was permitted.

The inbound Bergen Line train had just pulled out of the Radburn station on its way to Hoboken when it struck the woman around 6:45 p.m., said Dan Stessel, an NJ Transit spokesman.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, Stessel said. Her name was not released, pending the notification of relatives.

It was not immediately clear why she was on the tracks. The engineer pulled the train’s emergency brake and sounded the horn, but could not stop in time to avoid striking her, Stessel said. The incident did not occur at a rail crossing, he said.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the young woman, but they also go out to the train crew who couldn't do anything to stop the train in time.

It goes without saying that you shouldn't cross train lines at anywhere other than an official train crossing. You're putting your life at risk every time.