Man Hit, Killed By Music City Star In Mt. Juliet

by Mark Bellinger

MT. JULIET, Tenn. - A deadly accident interrupted the ride home for folks on the Music City Star.
A man was hit and killed by one of the trains in Mount Juliet Thursday afternoon. A Metro Transit Authority official said a man walked up onto the track and laid down in front of the train in what looks like an apparent suicide.

The accident happened just before 5 p.m. The Music City Star left Riverfront Park in Nashville and was on its way to Lebanon.

The commuter train carried 76 passengers plus the crew.

The accident happened when the train approached Mt. Juliet Elementary School and the Willoughby Station neighborhood near West Division Street.

Mt. Juliet Police investigated, along with MTA.

"The engineer did everything he could to stop the train in time. Blew the whistle. The individual was between the rails," police chief Andy Garrett said.

The accident shut down the system and the MTA sent buses to pickup stranded passengers on two trains.

Another outbound train was waiting at Riverfront Park. Pam Allen was one of the passengers.
"I just called. My mom came down to pick me up in Hermitage, so I just rode out to Hermitage and then it wasn't until later we heard what happened," Allen said.

Investigators could only tell the body was that of a man.

The accident happened in an area called a quiet zone. It's near a neighborhood, so the train is supposed to slow down and not use horns or whistles.

But in this case, engineers didn't hesitate to blow the horn.

"There was ample time and warning for that person to get off the track," Chief Garrett said.

Allen said she can't imagine being the engineer on the train or the victim's family.

"I can't imagine what the person who was driving the train felt like at this point. It's got to be traumatic for them and I really, my heart goes out to them because it's just got to be hard," said Allen.

Investigators said they won't know exactly what happen until they identify the victim and talk to his family.

The Music City Star is scheduled to run on schedule Friday morning.

This is not the first time someone has been killed on the tracks of the Music City Star. A man was killed in Lebanon two years ago. He was also lying on the tracks, and police called it a suicide.

Story provided by: newschannel5.com