Paoli-Thorndale Trains Resume After Tragedy on Tracks

An Amtrak train struck and killed a man Tuesday afternoon at the Overbrook station near Merion Station, according to witness accounts.

SEPTA resumed Paoli-Thorndale Line service in both directions Tuesday evening shortly before 6 p.m. after suspensions of more than an hour. Delays of 20 to 30 minutes occurred, as did a later service interruption.

In interviews with Patch, witnesses said an unidentified man attempted to cross the train tracks by running from the inbound to outbound side when he was struck by a speeding train at the regional rail station. 

“I was at the top of the stairs and heard the train and then just a bunch of people screaming, and the train stopped,” said Katherine Harry, who works as a technical writer at Oracle in Bala Cynwyd.

“It was an Amtrak train, so it was going straight through,” said Harry, who was on her way home to West Chester.

As she waited to be interviewed by police, Harry told Patch that she saw one very identifiable part of the victim shortly after the tragedy, pointing to a section of track near the outbound platform. She and a fellow passenger, who did not wish to be named, described further what they witnessed before police covered the man’s remains.

What they saw was extremely graphic—at least several pieces of white cloth, some small and some large, covered remains over an area of at least 20 yards. 

Philadelphia Police told 6ABC and the Philadelphia Daily News that a westbound Amtrak train struck the man, who reportedly was trying to catch a train.

SEPTA suspended Paoli-Thorndale Line service for more than an hour late Tuesday afternoon.

Commuters looking for alternate SEPTA routes can use the agency's Alternate Service finder.

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