A driver was killed Saturday evening in Braintree, Massachusetts, when an MBTA commuter rail train struck the Jeep Cherokee he was driving at a railroad crossing along the Braintree-Weymouth town line. The crossing gate was down and the warning lights were on. However, police say the driver went around the gate anyway.
The 58-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. None of the 74 passengers aboard the train were hurt. Local authorities did not release the driver’s name, exact location, or additional identifying information.
MBTA Transit Police and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the circumstances of the collision. Police have described the decision to go around the lowered gate as intentional, but have not publicly discussed motive.
The crash closed two town roads for hours and pulled a commuter rail train out of service on a Saturday afternoon. Investigators haven’t yet publicly discussed what brought a black Jeep Cherokee around an active railroad crossing gate as a train was approaching. There haven’t been any additional details about the scene released to the public just yet.
What Happened at the Grove Street Crossing
MBTA Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan reported that the driver was operating a black Jeep Cherokee on West Street in Weymouth at about 4:30 p.m., when he approached the Grove Street crossing on the Braintree-Weymouth town line. The driver intentionally drove around the crossing guard as a Kingston Line commuter rail train was approaching.
The rail train’s safety arm was deployed and all other warning signals were activated at the time of the crash, the Transit Police said. The Jeep was then struck by the train and was found at the scene heavily damaged and on its side in a pit. The driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was a 58-year-old man whose identity has not been publicly released.
The Aftermath and Closure
None of the 74 passengers aboard the train were injured, the Transit Police said. The passengers were escorted off the train and transferred to a bus that took them to their destinations. MBTA Transit Police detectives are continuing the investigation in tandem with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Grove Street in Braintree and West Street in Weymouth were closed for roughly four hours while crews investigated the scene, according to local police, with traffic diverted along Columbian Street. The MBTA reported on social media that a Kingston Line train was held at Braintree for at least half an hour because of police activity on the line.