Train hits, kills woman

GLENDALE — A woman was struck and killed by an Amtrak train Monday after she stumbled onto the tracks at Doran Street and San Fernando Road, witnesses said.

Witnesses said the woman, whom they described as being in her 60s, was pushing a shopping cart along San Fernando Road when she approached the tracks about 11:30 a.m. The Amtrak engineer blew the horn several times, but witnesses said the woman didn’t stop.

The engineer engaged the emergency braking system, but the woman, whose identity has not been released, stumbled on the tracks and was hit by the train, Glendale Fire Capt. Vincent Rifino said.

Pacific Surfliner Train 774 was carrying passengers south from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said. No one on the train was injured, she added.

Amtrak passengers remained on board for two hours while police and fire investigated the scene, walking alongside the train looking for body parts. Glendale police were handling the investigation.

Trains at the Glendale and downtown Burbank train stations were delayed as a result of the investigation, officials said. Passengers at the Glendale and Burbank stations were taken by bus around the closed portion of track.

Sun Valley resident Rosa Meraz was riding a bus that drove by the woman as she pushed a cart full of trash and recyclables.

The woman was wearing a long gray trench coat and appeared to be talking to herself as she walked, Meraz said.

The woman appeared to hear the train’s horn, but she got tangled with her shopping cart as she tried to jump the tracks, Meraz said.

“It looked like she thought the train was coming from a different track, then saw the train coming toward her and tried to jump,” she said.

Meraz and other Metro bus passengers watched the train hit the woman.

“We saw the train hit the woman, and her leg flew off,” she said.

The bus driver immediately ran out to see if the woman was OK, bus passenger Steve Wilkins said.

Upon finding the mangled body, Wilkins said the bus driver started crying and yelling.

The train engineer did not ask for relief and opted to take the train to its final destination, Amtrak’s Graham said.

The railroad will check in with the engineer for the next three days to see how he is doing, she said.

It was the second serious pedestrian-related train collision in as many months along the Glendale-Burbank rail corridor.

A 57-year-old Arcadia man sustained serious injuries last month after authorities said he was struck by a slowing Metrolink train at the Burbank Downtown/Magnolia Boulevard station platform.

Witnesses told Burbank police that the man appeared to step in front of Metrolink 110 as it prepared to stop, was struck and then thrown back onto the platform.