Train kills 2 BU students

Two Boston University students were struck and killed by an MBTA commuter rail train as they walked on tracks near Nickerson Field early yesterday.

Sophomore Andrew Ritter Voluck, 20, of Blue Bell, Pa., and freshman Molly Ferguson Shattuck, 19, of Ipswich, were both students in the College of General Studies. It was unclear why the two were on the tracks behind their West Campus dormitory, but some students said their classmates occasionally gather near the tracks to socialize.

Word of the deaths quickly spread throughout the 29,000-student campus, especially within the three dorms that surround Nickerson Field, where commencement is held each spring.

Shattuck was considering focusing on urban studies, said Gabriella Harary, who befriended Shattuck during freshman orientation.

"She was a really great person, really funny, really easy to get along with," Harary said. "She was really comfortable with herself. She was really quirky."

Sophomore Brendan Butler remembered Voluck for his black-framed glasses and his sociability. On a website popular with students, Voluck described himself as a political liberal who enjoyed music, girls who like good music, guitar, and Chinese food. He was a fan of books by Bret Easton Ellis and movies such as "Arlington Road," "Se7en," and "Good Will Hunting."

While the cause of the tragedy remains under investigation, the deaths were the 83d and 84th involving T commuter trains, subways, and buses over the past five years. In some cases those deaths resulted from an accident, often involving people walking carelessly on subway or train tracks, and on many occasions they involved people committing suicide.

Fifty-six people have been killed by commuter rail trains since 2000, based on MBTA safety statistics and a Globe review of news clippings. Another 20 were killed by subway cars, either as they walked on tracks or fell from station platforms. And eight involved people who were struck by buses; in one case a man who fell while trying to catch a moving bus. Only two of those killed were T workers; in each case as they were assisting with subway repairs.

Yesterday, the commuter rail engineer told T police he saw the students through the darkness at around 1 a.m. when they were about 50 feet in front of him, as his train hurtled inbound from Worcester at 50 miles per hour. At that speed, a train takes a half-mile to stop. He did not have time to hit either the horn or the brakes, said the engineer, who was not identified and has been operating T commuter trains since 1991.

"It's the worst part of the job without question, and I think every engineer will agree with that," said Walter Nutter, a T engineer who has hit and killed three people over his 32-year career. He now leads a counseling team for engineers involved in similar incidents.

"They have an emergency brake, and that's the last thing they can do. After that, all you can do is watch -- if you choose to," Nutter said.

None of the six passengers on board the train was hurt in the accident. The seven-car train, making the last inbound trip of the day, was being pushed by its locomotive, meaning the noisiest part of the train was farthest from Voluck and Shattuck. The railbed also was rimmed with a snowbank, which can muffle noise from the train. While the engineer was in a passenger car at the front of the train, his station was equipped with a throttle, brake, and horn, and the car had a light that shone down the track, said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

It is difficult to compare the T's fatality rate with those of other transit authorities, some of which operate either subways or trains but not both. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which carries 1.1 million people a day on its trains, buses, and subways, is the fifth busiest in the country.

According to annual reports issued by the Federal Railroad Administration, T commuter trains struck more trespassers, or people not authorized to be on a railbed, during a recent five-year span than some larger commuter rail systems.

Between 1998 and 2002, MBTA trains struck and killed 37 trespassers. During that same period, trains from the Long Island Rail Road killed 25, while trains affiliated with the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad, which includes Chicago's busy Metra system, killed 21 trespassers. As of 2002, the Long Island Rail Road was the busiest of the three in terms of passenger miles, which tabulates the number of miles traveled by all riders during a given period. It had 2.1 million, while the T was second at 1.8 million and the Illinois Regional railroad was third at 1.5 million.

Pesaturo said he could not immediately comment on the disparity without further examination of the underlying data.

The tracks where the students were struck run through the Beacon Park rail yard, which is separated from BU by a rusting chain-link fence that contains large holes and has fallen down in several locations.

The vast rail yard is owned by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which has leased it to CSX. The rail company, in turn, leases a single track to the MBTA for service to Framingham and Worcester.

MBTA police Lieutenant Detective Mark Gillespie said that CSX police, not T police, have jurisdiction over the rail yard. T officers do not regularly patrol the tracks, but respond to specific reports of possible vandalism or trespassing, he said last night.

Jane Covington, a spokeswoman for CSX, said the Turnpike Authority is responsible for maintaining fences around the rail yard. Turnpike Authority spokesman Doug Hanchett could not be reached for comment last night.

The university is offering chaplain and counseling support for students, faculty, and staff. Voluck's family declined to comment yesterday, and Shattuck's family did not return a phone call.

Students in the College of General Studies work together in teams of roughly 100. Early yesterday afternoon, administrators visited Voluck's class team to break the news, several students said. His girlfriend learned about his death there, several students said.

"Our prayers and our hearts go out to their families and to those who knew them. The Boston University community has suffered a great loss," Kenneth Elmore, BU's dean of students, said in a statement.

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at ebbert@globe.com