By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON. January 31, 2013 Shortly after 6:30pm yesterday Halton Regional Police were called to investigate a fatality involving a Via train and a pedestrian in Burlington.
A lone male pedestrian, in his early twenties was observed entering onto the CN tracks in the area west of Cumberland Avenue. The man was seen approaching from the south side of the tracks, crossing two sets of tracks before entering into the path of a west bound Via Rail passenger train, which was carrying passengers at the time.
The pedestrian was struck by the Via train and pronounced dead at the scene. A second west bound Go train which was travelling a very short distance behind the Via train in the middle track was also carrying passengers and delayed by the incident, although not involved. The tracks were closed for approximately two hours while police investigated the incident.
Halton Regional Police Collision Reconstruction Unit attended and assumed control of this investigation. None of the passengers of either train sustained injury from this collision.
The police would appreciate hearing from anyone who may have seen the victim in the area of the incident prior to the collision . Call the Halton Police Collision Reconstruction Unit. Detective Constable Oliver Caves, 905-825-4747 ext 5124 is the investigating officer.
Marnie wrote: “I have walked over those tracks many times and if you look both ways you can see any train approaching. I wonder if he had in ear buds and was texting at the time. In the last two weeks near my home I could have easily hit post office delivery people who came to the end of a driveway and walked into the street, in front of my car, while not looking and focusing on delivering mail across the street.”