A man in his 60s was struck and killed by a southbound Metro A Line train south of Southwest Museum Station in Highland Park early Thursday morning, according to Metro officials. The collision was reported around 4:45 a.m., per the LAPD Traffic Division, and prompted an investigation that is expected to cause delays along the A Line.
Metro suspended rail operations through the area following the crash and set up a bus bridge shuttle to carry passengers between the Heritage Square and Highland Park stations, according to CBS Los Angeles. The victim's identity has not been released, and additional details were not immediately available, according to NBC Los Angeles, which first reported the incident. The investigation into what led the man onto the tracks is ongoing.
A Painfully Familiar Scene in Highland Park
Thursday's death echoes another fatal strike in the same neighborhood less than four months earlier. On May 7, another man in his 60s was killed by a Metro train near Avenue 61 and Figueroa Street in Highland Park, a crash that also forced service suspensions and bus shuttles, the station's report noted. Hoodline previously covered that Highland Park death in May.
Both crashes happened along stretches where the A Line runs at street level. Along Marmion Way in Highland Park, rail tracks cut through residential and commercial blocks without standard automated crossing gates at every intersection, a layout that has long required trains to slow down, according to accounts shared on Reddit by riders familiar with the corridor. Despite those reduced speeds, fatal collisions have continued to occur in the area.
City Safety Project Still Underway Along the Corridor
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has been developing the Marmion Way Safety and Mobility Project, aimed at closing infrastructure gaps and improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers along the corridor that parallels the Metro A Line between Avenue 50 and Figueroa Street, according to LADOT Livable Streets. It remains unclear what progress has been made on that project or whether lighting or crossing infrastructure played any role in Thursday's crash.
Highland Park is not the only part of the A Line to see tragedy this year. On April 20, a pedestrian was fatally struck by an A Line train along the 4300 block of South Long Beach Avenue in South Los Angeles, a crash Hoodline covered in a piece titled South LA Rail Tragedy. Weeks later, another pedestrian was killed near the Expo/La Brea stop on Metro's E Line during the morning commute, according to Hoodline's earlier report.
Rail Trespassing Remains a Leading Killer Statewide
The pattern reflects a broader statewide problem. Preliminary 2025 Federal Railroad Administration statistics compiled by Operation Lifesaver rank California as the state with the highest number of rail trespassing casualties in the nation, contributing to 1,317 total trespass casualties across the country that year. Federal Railroad Administration data updated in April 2025 shows that trespassing on railroad rights-of-way, combined with highway-rail grade crossing collisions, account for more than 95% of all rail-related deaths nationwide, with trespassing remaining the single leading cause.
LA Metro has pointed to progress on the enforcement side. In February, the agency announced that systemwide “Crimes against Society” — a category covering illegal trespassing, weapons, and narcotics violations — fell by 33% in 2025 compared to the year before, following expanded public safety deployments and access controls. Under California Penal Code § 369i, entering or remaining on transit or railroad property without permission in a way that interferes with or hinders train operations is classified as a misdemeanor offense.
Metro has not said whether Thursday's fatal strike will affect its ongoing safety strategy along the A Line. The investigation into the circumstances that put the man on the tracks south of Southwest Museum Station remains open, and no further details had been released as of Thursday.
