Teen in critical condition after being hit by train
Witnesses say girl wore headphones
A 17-year-old girl was in critical condition Tuesday night after being struck by a commuter train at the Pierrefonds-Roxboro station Tuesday afternoon.
Witnesses at the scene said the teenager was on the northern platform and running to catch a downtown-bound train sitting on the southern side of the station around 5 p.m.
She glanced eastward to check for trains before moving to cross at the pedestrian crossing, but did not see the train that was heading westward, said officer Daniel Lacoursière of the Montreal Police.
The train grazed the girl, knocking her between the train and the platform, then dragged her for roughly 50 feet. Lacoursière said she received serious injuries to her head and lower body. She was taken to a hospital. At 8 p.m. Tuesday, doctors were reporting that her condition had worsened. Witnesses said she appeared to be wearing headphones and may not have heard the westbound train.
Service on the Deux-Montagnes train line was shut down for several hours.
Trains that had already departed on the line were halted at the Roxboro or Bois-Francs stations, where passengers were diverted to buses.
Service resumed around 8 p.m. as police officers slowly removed their tape from the scene and a few passengers filtered back into the station.
Because the accident occurred on rail lines owned by the Réseau de transport metropolitaine, which does not have its own police service like CN and CP rail lines do, Montreal police were handling the investigation.
Several witnesses had been questioned, Lacoursière said.