Man Killed by Commuter Train

SUNLAND — An unidentified man was killed Thursday by a Metrolink train about 40 feet west of the spot where a bicyclist who ignored an engineer’s warning signals was killed three weeks earlier, authorities said.

Witnesses told Metrolink officials that Thursday’s victim was carrying several duffel-type bags that he placed on the ground next to the tracks before walking into the path of the oncoming train, Metrolink spokesman Francisco Oaxaca said.

At the time of the accident, crossing barriers, bells and flashing lights signaled a train approaching, but the victim apparently ignored them, Oaxaca said.

The accident occurred at 6:27 p.m., about 40 feet from a railroad crossing at San Fernando Road and Sunland Boulevard, Oaxaca said.

Oaxaca said the victim ignored repeated blasts from the train’s whistle and was hit by a train headed from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to a station in Canyon Country.

None of the 225 passengers aboard the train were hurt, he added.

The death occurred about eight miles south of a stretch of track where four people were killed by trains in an eight-month period last year. There have been 15 fatal accidents since Metrolink began operation in October, 1992, of which seven were declared suicides by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.