A northbound Amtrak Downeaster train hit and killed a person in North Berwick on Saturday night, the head of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority said.
Patricia Quinn said the collision occurred just before 7 p.m.
She said she did not know the identity of the person who was struck and killed and a call to the York County Sheriff’s Office seeking information was not returned.
An Amtrak spokeswoman, Vernae Graham, said a “trespasser” on the tracks was struck by Downeaster train 695, but she couldn’t confirm that the person was killed.
Both Graham and Quinn said none of the 105 passengers or the crew were injured and another train crew was being sent to replace the workers who were on board at the time the accident occurred.
Graham said the collision occurred 11 miles north of Dover, N.H. She said it took place on a section of track where there was no crossing and the maximum speed for the train would be 60 mph, although she didn’t have information on how fast the train was actually traveling.
A U.S. Department of Transportation report released in 2013 said that 10 people had been killed, and five seriously injured, in collisions with either the Downeaster or freight trains since 2003. Since then, two other people were killed after being hit by a Downeaster train – in Portland last October and another in South Portland in May.
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