Investigation continues in Mansfield train accident

I've taken the Acela a number of times and I highly doubt it was going anywhere near 150 mph in Mansfield.

I have stood on that platform waiting for the Patriots Train more than once when the Acela has come through. It is frightening to be just 3-4 feet from that thing as it passes at 100 mph more or less. I lost my hat one time and I have been waiting for someone to get too close. Now it has happened. It is time ,especially on a football day when you have 200 people more or less on that platform, to make the through trains slow down as they approach this station. It is a miracle that it didn't happen sooner. Now some poor family is paying dearly for the loss of a loved one and maybe something will be done after the fact.

"Treat them like a road, you always have to look both ways,” said Karina Romero, an Amtrak spokeswoman."

That's a pretty silly thing for an Amtrack spokesperson to say. They are NOT like roads. These trains go twice as fast as a car. Hello? They go 150!

What are you going to do after you look both ways? Is she saying then it's OK to cross?

The fact that these trains travel at double the speed of a car on a highway is the very thing that makes them so great.

Thanks for making me late to the Celtics game...

When I was younger I was told to stay away from the train tracks. I remember hearing of one death of someone who was walking on the tracks and was killed. I was scared to death of the tracks then, and I still am now. There is no way I would be close to those tracks. (And I was a Mansfield train station commuter for many years. I also rode the elevated trains into Forest Hills, and the subway trains into Boston) There are signs posted everywhere warning of the dangers. I don't believe at this point in our society that anyone killed by a train is an accident. There is always a way to get to the other side, rather than crossing the tracks. I am amazed if an Amtrak spokesperson said 'look both ways'; The proper advice would be to 'go over' ( or under).

My 17 year old son was on the northbound side of the station at the time of the accident. He said the women was acting strange, pacing back and forth, and looked nervous. He did not feel it was an accident, but a suicide.

YOU PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK !!!!!!!!SOME POOR LADY DIES,A ND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS BEING LATE FOR A CELTICS GAME. PEOPLE IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED THE TRAINS HAVE BEEN RUNNING THROUGH THERE FOR CLOSE TO A HUNDRED YEARS NOW. IF YOUR TOO STUPID TO KNOW BETTER THAN TO STAY OFF/AWAY FROM THE TRACKS, YOU DESERVE TO GET KILLED, NO AMOUNT OF SIGNS OR OTHER DEVICES ARE GOING TO HELP. TRAINS ARE DANGEROUS, THEY CAN ""NOT"" STOP ON A DIME. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM

This was a sad situation. But, was this an accident or was it a suicide? If it was an accident, of course, it's a tragedy. If it were a suicide, it's still a tragedy, but can you imagine how the operator of the Acela feels? He/She will never forget the image of someone throwing themselves in front of their train. If this was a suicide, this woman ruined not only her life, but the lives of her family AND this train conductor. Suicide is an act so selfish. I wish she knew that better days would come to her eventually.

Those trains go flying through daily as hundreds of commuters are waiting for the local trains so I don't think the lives of Patriots fans should be given any special meaning over everyone else. In the end, they really should widen the tracks so trains can pass through those stations in residential areas on a center track away from the platforms. If you get hit by a train going 100mph or a train going 40mph, the outcome will probably be the same.

My sympathies to both the victim's family and the train crew - the accident is unquestionably tragic.
The MBCR's response however, especially immediately following the accident and specifically affecting passengers of train 811 that left South Station for Providence at 3:45pm, was profoundly inept. Once again, the MBCR demonstrated they are unprepared for emergencies of any magnitude.
The track closure in Mansfield required the 811 to discharge passengers at Sharon. The train crew was unable to provide any information exept that buses would arrive to take everyone to their final destination. The crew was intent on getting everyone off the train and then promptly closed the doors. No one from the MBCR was on site in Sharon for almost a half hour. There was a great deal of confusion and no information provided; there is no public address system at the station; the MBCR official had no handheld PA; there was further confusion among the train crew; buses arrived but told passengers they were going to Boston; eventually the buses were designated to take passengers to outbound stations but it was over an hour after we were left at Sharon. I can only imagine the frustration of commuters behind us.
MBCR needs to be held accountable for emergency preparedness.

To blame this on Amtrak is the same as blaming McDonalds for making people fat. Action-reaction-consequence. It's not complicated. Eat fries, get fat. Walk on the tracks, get hit by a train.

Wether accidental or intentional, the blame falls entirely on this woman.

Tragic? Sure.

I wonder how many people "blaming the train" filled out their "On time service guarantee" reimbursement for being 30 minutes late. Hypocrisy at its finest.

People, just keep in mind this woman was someones wife, mother, grandmother, sister, someones loved one. It could have been yours!
Train late, oh my. Our lives go on, hers does not. Lets show more compassion in a would that really needs it.
There is no blame needed on anyones part. It was an end to someones life be it an accident or intentional.
I pray for her and the train crew .

There needs to be more compassion for the mentally ill. She was a family friend's mother and in a lot of turmoil and pain. Even the catholic church does't damn people to hell anymore for committing suicide.

I feel horrible for the people who loved her, the people who witnessed what happened and the train conductor. My thoughts are with you.

This was a preventable death. This woman could have chosen NOT to kill herself. So yes its sad but she chose to die that day and that way. I feel bad for the people who saw her and for the train conductor. The bottom line is when the lights say "train approaching please stand behind yellow line" and the anouncement is made MOVE BACK. You know a train is coming. Plus who walks on train tracks unless you want to die. Those of us who ride the commuter rail were all late getting to our children etc because of this womans selfish act on Friday. Plus if she wanted to kill herself why did she do it in front of so many people. Again selfish act!

R.I.P SUMMERS GRANDMA

Everyone who posted negative comments needs prayers!! Do unto others, people. Late for a basketball game, gee - poor baby. Inconvenienced by getting off a stop ahead of yours, deal with it. Comment #15 says enough - she was somone's grandmother. For your information - when something like this happens, MBTA, MBCR, whatever the commuter line is called now - they cannot announce that there was a fatality. I'd like to know how all of you who posted such cruel remarks would feel if she were YOUR family member. When a person is that disturbed, they do not have reasoning abilities and do not think about whether or not they are being "selfish"! If they did, they would not be in a position to contemplate suicide! Use the brain God gave you before you open your mouths or touch the keyboard! YOU are the sad people in this case!

Hey,

Did you hear about this? The lady that used to run the restaurant told me about it today. This happened just before my usual train. From the posts, it looks like she threw herself on the tracks. This was last Friday and I think I drove in - very glad I did not see that.

I wish I saw it.