A train belonging to Florida’s higher-speed passenger rail service struck and killed a man walking on the tracks just weeks after the company reopened from the pandemic.
The Brightline train struck the pedestrian Tuesday morning in North Miami Beach as he walked on the tracks and didn’t move as the train sounded its horn. North Miami Beach police did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking further details.
The death is at least the 49th involving a Brightline train since the Miami to West Palm Beach line launched in mid-2017 and the first since it reopened last month after a 19-month closure due to the pandemic.
In November, a Brightline commuter train hit a car carrying a woman and her grandchild on the higher-speed line’s first day back in operation since the start of the pandemic. That crash happened in Pompano Beach. In that case, the 71-year-old woman suffered some broken bones and the child did not appear to be seriously injured.
The Brightline trains travel at speeds of up to 79 mph through some of Florida’s most densely-populated cities.
