A person has died after being struck by an Amtrak train in Radnor

A person was struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Radnor on Sunday morning, police and rail officials said, in what is the fifth fatality involving an Amtrak train in the region in the last month.

In Sunday’s incident, Amtrak spokesperson Beth Toll said the person had been “trespassing on the tracks” west of Villanova Station when they were hit around 11:10 a.m.

Radnor police Sgt. Stephen Ryan said police had identified the person and were in the process of notifying their family. Ryan said the person likely died by suicide.

The train, number 663, had been traveling from New York to Harrisburg. None of its 216 passengers and crew were injured, Toll said.

Service on the tracks, which are also used by trains on SEPTA’s Paoli-Thorndale Regional Rail Line, was suspended as police and emergency workers responded to the scene but had been restored by 6 p.m., Ryan said.

One SEPTA train had been running at the time of the incident, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said, and those passengers were transferred to shuttle buses.

In the other Amtrak fatalities this month, a person was killed after they were hit by a train near SEPTA’s Cornwells Heights station on April 2, and a father and two sons were struck by a train near the Bristol SEPTA station a day later.

In the latter case, the youngest son’s death was ruled a suicide, while his father and brother’s deaths were determined to be accidental.

A recent audit found that Amtrak trains struck people or occupied cars on the tracks 800 times between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2023, causing 594 deaths and 279 injuries.

In an email, Toll wrote that preventing deaths is a priority for the rail service.

“According to the Federal Railroad Administration, trespassing along railroad rights-of-way is the leading cause of rail-related deaths in America,” she wrote.

“These incidents can affect everyone involved — those who are injured or die and their families, our train crews, and our passengers. They also serve as critical reminders about the importance of obeying the law and of exercising extreme caution around railroad tracks and grade crossings.“

The audit, released earlier this month by the inspector general of the national passenger railroad corporation, found that Amtrak had stepped up efforts to combat train fatalities with safety campaigns and tracking hazards along train tracks.

But the inspector general noted that Amtrak should also build fencing or barriers in the property around its tracks, increase visibility near the tracks, and use technology to identify when people are on the tracks and alert police and train operators.