Update: Man Fatally Struck by Train Identified as Lawrence Resident

Update, 5:45 p.m., Nov. 23:

The man who was struck and killed by a train in Lawrence Township late Thanksgiving night has been identified by authorities Brian Remde, a 23-year-old resident of the 100 block of Franklin Corner Road in Lawrence, according to township police.

Authorities are considering Remde’s death a suicide.

“Investigation by detectives from Lawrence Township Police Department, New Jersey Transit Police and AMTRAK Police revealed Mr. Remde intentionally stepped in front of the moving New Jersey Transit train,” Lawrence Township police spokesman Lt. Mark Ubry said in a news release issued this evening. “Mr. Remde’s vehicle was located nearby in the Lawrence Square Village complex.”

According to the news release, the Mercer County Medical Examiner’s Office “removed the deceased at approximately 4 a.m. and travel on the rail lines was returned to normal at approximately 6 a.m.”

Update, 10:10 a.m., Nov. 23:

It was a man who was struck and killed by a train when he stepped onto the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks that run along Lawrence Station Road in Lawrence Township late Thanksgiving night (Thursday, Nov. 22), authorities said this morning.

Authorities, however, have not yet confirmed the man’s identity and the circumstances of the deadly incident remain under investigation by New Jersey Transit Police, according to NJ Transit spokeswoman Courtney Carroll.

Carroll said the man was trespassing along railroad property when he was hit by the train about 11:15 p.m. in the vicinity of the Quakerbridge Road overpass. The man was killed instantly, emergency officials said.

The NJ Transit train, No. 7879, left New York Penn Station at 9:57 p.m. and was due to arrive at the Trenton train station at 11:19 p.m., Carroll said.

She said there were about 250 passengers aboard the train; there were no injuries to passengers or train crew, she said. The passengers eventually continued their journey to Trenton after they were transferred to another train that the brought in, she added.

Lawrence Township police responded to assist NJ Transit authorities with the investigation.  Firefighters from Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. also responded to assist investigators by providing lighting.

While the investigation at the incident scene went on for several hours, there was minimal impact to rail service because two of the four Northeast Corridor tracks remained open and train traffic was already reduced due to the holiday, according to Carroll.

Original post, 1:56 a.m. Nov. 23:

Authorities are investigating an incident in which a person was struck and killed by a train in Lawrence Township late Thanksgiving night (Thursday, Nov. 22).

Details were sketchy at the time of this report, but emergency officials familiar with the incident said it happened along the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks adjacent to Lawrence Station Road near Fountayne Lane.

The person who was killed was trespassing along railroad property and might have deliberately stepped in front of the train, the officials said. It is believed the individual was a male, but his identity has not yet been confirmed.

Lawrence Township police and New Jersey Transit police were still out at the scene of the fatality as of 1:45 a.m. Friday. Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. firefighters were also on the scene providing investigators with lighting. 

This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.