High-speed Brightline train hits and kills second person in one week

A Brightline train hit and killed a bicyclist Wednesday afternoon in Boynton Beach, the Palm Beach Post reports, just days after another Brightline train pedestrian fatality in Boynton Beach on January 12.

Brightline said in a statement on Wednesday: “Local authorities are on the scene, and we are engaged with them as they begin their investigation.”

Lawmakers are responding to the fatalities. The Palm Beach Post reports that Boynton Beach City Commissioner Joe Casello wants to ask City Manager Lori LaVerriere to request that Brightline stop operations until safety questions are answered.

“We all agree with high tech transportation, but it’s obvious Brightline hasn’t addressed all safety issues needed in traveling through our city,” he told the Palm Beach Post. “And I’m guessing that once these crossings become quiet zones these type of incidents will become the norm.”

The bicyclist reportedly pedaled around closed train gates yesterday before the accident. In the incident on January 12, a woman apparently tried to beat an oncoming Brightline train, crossing the tracks after the guardrail went down.

• UPDATE: Police say man pedaled around closed train gates before death [Palm Beach Post]
• Police identify 31-year-old woman struck and killed by Brightline train [Miami Herald]
• Second person in less than a week killed by high-speed Brightline train in South Florida [USA Today]
• Florida’s Brightline train starts service to Ft. Lauderdale this weekend [Curbed Miami]
• Brightline, Florida’s new high-speed rail system, set to open this month [Curbed Miami