Person dies after being hit by Amtrak train in Durham. Second railroad death in days.
A man was killed when they crossed railroad tracks in Durham and was hit by an Amtrak train Saturday afternoon.
Train 72 hit the person walking on the tracks just west of Durham at 1:01 pm., according to an Amtrak spokesperson. There were no injuries among the crew or the 178 passengers on the train, according to the spokesperson.
Durham police are investigating the collision that occurred near 3573 Hillsborough Road at the intersection of Hillsborough and Cole Mill roads.
Police confirmed that one person died. On Wednesday, they identified the man as Arron Alexander Edwards, 46, but could not say yet how he came to be on the tracks.
The No. 72 northbound Piedmont train was traveling from Charlotte to Raleigh. It was back moving again by 4:28 p.m, according to Amtrak.
Amtrak said that two buses and a van were available to transport passengers on the later-arriving Train 76 between Charlotte and Raleigh.
Second fatality since Thursday
This was the second fatal Amtrak collision in Durham in a span of a few days.
One person was killed when a car crossing the railroad tracks in East Durham was hit by an Amtrak train on Thursday evening, The News & Observer previously reported.
Investigators say the 52-year-old driver apparently turned from East Pettigrew Street onto South Driver Street and became stuck on the tracks when the crossing arms came down,
There are traffic lights on either side of the crossing, at Pettigrew and East Peabody streets, but investigators have not said why they think the car got trapped on the tracks.
That train was also traveling northbound from Charlotte to Raleigh.
The Driver Street crossing is one of three in East Durham that state and local officials have targeted for closure. Last summer, Durham County and GoTriangle received a $1.2 million federal grant to develop plans to close the crossings at Driver, South Plum Street and Ellis Road for safety reasons.
In 25 years, there had been 19 crashes at those crossings, killing three people and injuring 9 more, according to the county.
This story was originally published March 16, 2024 at 2:19 PM.
