Man killed by train identified

A 34-year-old man was killed Wednesday when he was struck by a Norfolk Southern freight train in downtown Athens, Tennessee, according to authorities.

Athens police responded to the scene with emergency medical personnel around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to interim Police Chief Fred Schultz. In an email Thursday, Schultz said the incident happened near West Madison Avenue and Cook Drive, just west of Starr Regional Medical Center.

Schultz said the victim was identified as Joseph Carl Lowe of Athens. Schultz said Norfolk Southern was the lead investigative agency on the incident.

Norfolk Southern spokesperson Connor Spielmaker said Thursday in an email the incident didn’t happen at a railroad crossing but involved a person walking on the tracks, “which is highly dangerous.”

“The train was coming out of Chattanooga headed north for Virginia, and there was no further incident to crew or train,” Spielmaker said.

The northbound train was pulling 183 cars, plus locomotives, he said.

More than 2,100 people are killed or injured each year in the U.S. crossing or trespassing on train tracks, according to Operation Lifesaver, a railway safety education organization that is one of the partners in Rail Safety Week, which was held from Sept. 20-26.

“No matter the circumstances, any loss of life is a tragedy — our thoughts are with their family during this difficult time,” Spielmaker said. “We would be remiss if we didn’t say that train tracks can be dangerous and they are not a place to walk along. This is a very unfortunate reminder of that.”