20 May 2010

Man Wearing Headphones Hit by Train
in North York

Toronto Ontario - A man walking along a set of North York train tracks was run over and killed by a freight train Thursday morning.
 
Police say the 40-year-old victim was wearing a large set of headphones and likely didn't hear the train's horn.
 
The man was walking south on the Canadian Pacific rails near Finch Ave. W. and Weston Rd. around 7:30 a.m. when he was hit by the 74-car train, which was also heading south, said Sgt. Tim Burrows of Traffic Services.
 
"The train was travelling about 35 miles per hour at impact," he said. "From the point where it hit him to the point where the train finally stopped was about a kilometer."
 
Burrows said the train sounded its horn for 20 seconds to warn the man it was coming. The emergency break system was also initiated.
 
But "he was wearing big headphones, the ones that go over your ears," and was unable to get out of the train's path.
 
Five hours after the crash, emergency crews were still trying to extract the man's body from under the lead car of the train, Burrows said.
 
Investigators have yet to identify the victim.
 
Burrows said he's not sure why the man was walking down the tracks, but "it doesn't appear to be a suicide."
 
He said the area around the tracks is private property and the victim should have known he was trespassing.
 
Burrows said the incident has halted freight transport on the busy rail corridor, costing CP Railway millions.
 
"The impact is about $600,000 every hour it's stopped," he said.
 
Investigators are hoping to get the rail line running again by mid-afternoon.
 
Teri Pecoskie.