Sound Transit’s S Line service is facing major disruptions Thursday evening after a fatal incident on the tracks near Kent Station.
A 46-year-old Auburn man was killed after he was struck by a Sound Transit train near Kent Station on Thursday evening, police said.
Kent officers, Puget Sound Fire and King County medics responded about 6 p.m. to the BNSF railroad tracks near South 266th Street after receiving reports that a pedestrian had been hit by a train.
First responders found the man dead at the scene, according to Kent police.
Initial witness information indicated the man was walking north on the northbound tracks, police said. The train conductor took emergency action and sounded the train horn, but the collision could not be avoided.
The incident caused major disruptions on Sound Transit’s S Line service Thursday evening.
Sound Transit said S Line train No. 1524, the 5:15 p.m. trip from Tacoma Dome Station to King Street Station, was holding near Kent Station because of the fatal incident.
Two southbound S Line trips from King Street Station to Lakewood Station were canceled:
- Train No. 1523, the 5:45 p.m. trip, was canceled at Tukwila Station from 6:10 to 8 p.m.
- Train No. 1525, the 6:30 p.m. trip, was canceled from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m.
Sound Transit issued the alert at 6:01 p.m. and said updates would be provided as they became available.
This was the second incident involving a Sound Transit train and a pedestrian in the Seattle area within hours. Earlier Thursday, a woman was critically injured after she was struck by a Sound Transit train in SODO.
Officials have not indicated whether the incidents were related.
The fatal collision also comes months after a quiet zone took effect along the BNSF Railway mainline in Kent, where train engineers are no longer required to routinely sound their horns at eight public crossings. Police said the conductor sounded the horn before Thursday’s collision.
