Police Provide Update on Investigation After Pedestrian Fatally Struck by Train in Lansdale

The train was stopped between the Pennbrook Train Station and the Septa crossing on Hancock Street in Lansdale during the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2022.

Police have provided additional information from their investigation into a pedestrian who was killed after being struck by a Septa train late Tuesday morning.

According to Lansdale Borough Police Chief Michael Trail, preliminary findings from the investigation indicate the pedestrian — only identified as a 53-year-old female — intended to be killed by the train and took her own life. Those findings are only preliminary and are pending confirmation from the victim’s autopsy, Trail said.

“Evidence recovered at the scene supports the theory that she took her own life,” Trail said.

First responders were dispatched to the area of the Pennbrook Train Station at 11:55 a.m. on Dec. 20 for a report of a pedestrian that had been struck by a train. Initial dispatch notes called for a medevac, however that was waved off after the victim died at the scene.

The train ultimately came to a stop on the outbound line between the Pennbrook Train Station and the Septa rail crossing on Hancock Street, as Lansdale and Septa police conducted their investigation. The scene was cleared several hours later.

The incident occurred several days after a pedestrian was struck by a Septa train in North Wales Borough.

In that incident, police were dispatched to the North Wales Train Station around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 17 for a report of a pedestrian being struck by a train. According to a report by FOX29, the unidentified pedestrian survived being struck by the train and was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition.

Tuesday’s fatal incident is another in a line of deaths that have occurred near the Pennbrook Train Station over the last 16 years. Among them was a pedestrian who was struck and killed by a train earlier this year at the same location, as well as a July 2011 suicide and the 2006 death of an East Stroudsburg man.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or suicidal thoughts, help is now available by dialing 988, which will put you in touch with the National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline. For more information on 988,click here. 

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