Fort Lauderdale police say a man is dead after being struck by a Tri-Rail train early Thursday morning near North Andrews Avenue and Northeast 62nd Street. Officers found the man's body on the tracks at the scene, and detectives are now trying to piece together what happened in the moments before the collision.
According to WSVN 7News, Fort Lauderdale police confirmed the man died after being struck by the train, and an investigation is underway to determine what led up to the incident. Detectives have not yet released the man's identity or said whether he was crossing the tracks, walking along the right-of-way, or otherwise present near the rails when the train approached.
The crash site sits less than half a mile south of Tri-Rail's Cypress Creek Station on North Andrews Way, according to transit mapping data from Moovit. The stretch of track running through that intersection is part of the 80-mile South Florida Rail Corridor, which is owned by the Florida Department of Transportation and managed by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority for Tri-Rail commuter service, Amtrak passenger trains, and CSX freight operations, per Wikipedia.
A Region Already on Edge Over Rail Deaths
Thursday's fatality comes just a day after Hoodline reported on a pedestrian killed by a Tri-Rail train at Windsor Avenue in West Palm Beach, underscoring how frequently these collisions are now occurring along the same commuter corridor. The numbers back up that sense of alarm: SFRTA reported in May that Tri-Rail recorded 14 trespasser strikes in the first five months of 2026 alone, 10 of them fatal, already surpassing the 12 total strikes and 9 fatalities logged across all of 2025, according to WLRN.
In response to that spike, SFRTA launched a $56,500 federally funded “Are You OK?” safety campaign with Henderson Behavioral Health, training frontline transit staff and contractors to recognize signs of emotional distress and intervene before someone steps onto the tracks. The station's report notes the initiative comes as South Florida has seen regional suicides climb 67 percent over the past 15 years.
Legal Stakes for Track Trespassing
Florida law treats unauthorized presence on active rail lines as a serious offense. Under Florida Statute 316.1575, pedestrians and drivers approaching a railroad crossing must stop between 15 and 50 feet from the nearest rail when warning devices activate, and moving around lowered gates is illegal. Separately, Florida Statute 860.09 addresses knowingly or willfully interfering with or obstructing railroad equipment; it does not establish that ordinary trespassing is a third-degree felony.
Federal Railroad Administration data cited by Wikipedia places Florida typically between sixth and ninth nationally for rail-related fatalities, rather than second behind California. It's a hazard playing out repeatedly in northern Broward County alone this year.
Recurring Danger Along the Same Corridor
Just last month, Hoodline reported that an Amtrak train slammed into a stalled car in Oakland Park, sparking a fire near a crossing where a fatal Tri-Rail pedestrian strike had already occurred in 2024. And Andrews Avenue itself has seen tragedy before: Hoodline covered a fatal train strike along that same corridor in March, and another deadly Brightline collision on Broward Boulevard in July. A separate Tri-Rail death near West Broward Boulevard and Interstate 95 in February 2024 further illustrates how often these crossings turn fatal.
Broward County transportation planners have been looking at longer-term fixes. In December 2025, officials were evaluating train underpasses at high-traffic Fort Lauderdale crossings, including Andrews Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard, as part of broader grade-separation and security fencing efforts aimed at physically keeping pedestrians and vehicles off the tracks. Whether such engineering changes will be prioritized for this segment near Cypress Creek Station remains an open question, as does whether Thursday's victim was attempting to cross closed safety gates or was otherwise trespassing along the right-of-way. Fort Lauderdale police have not released further details as the investigation continues.
