A person was killed early Wednesday morning after being struck by a Tri-Rail train at the intersection of Windsor Avenue and Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach. The collision happened around 5:35 a.m., according to West Palm Beach Fire Rescue, and prompted a trauma alert as crews transported the victim by ground to St. Mary's Medical Center, where the person was later pronounced deceased.
West Palm Beach Police responded to the scene and were investigating the train-strike incident, as first reported by WPTV. Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard near Windsor Avenue was closed until further notice as officers worked the scene, snarling what would have otherwise been a routine Wednesday commute for drivers in the area.
A Rail Corridor With a Troubling Pattern
Wednesday's fatality is not an isolated event along this stretch of track. The same West Palm Beach rail corridor recorded at least three other pedestrian train fatalities in March 2026 alone, according to the City of West Palm Beach, including a March 10 Tri-Rail strike near 36th Street and Windsor Avenue and a March 24 Tri-Rail strike on Old Okeechobee Road. Hoodline previously reported on the March 10 death near 36th Street, as well as the fatal strike near Howard Community Park later that month.
The tracks running through Windsor Avenue and Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard form part of the 72-mile South Florida Rail Corridor, a line owned by the Florida Department of Transportation and shared by Tri-Rail commuter trains, CSX Transportation freight lines, and Amtrak passenger routes, per Wikipedia. FDOT purchased the corridor from CSX in 1989 and later transferred dispatching and maintenance duties to the South Florida Regional Transportation Agency in 2015. Tri-Rail itself runs 50 weekday and 30 weekend trains across a 19-station network spanning Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.
What Investigators Still Don't Know
It remains unclear whether the victim attempted to cross active gates or was walking along the right-of-way when the train struck them — a detail that police traffic homicide investigations typically take weeks to confirm, according to the City of West Palm Beach. That open question mirrors earlier cases along the corridor, where the precise circumstances leading up to a strike were not immediately released to the public.
Florida has moved to toughen penalties for those who ignore rail safety warnings. Under Florida Statute § 316.1575, updated through House Bill 1301 in July 2024, pedestrians and drivers who cross tracks while warning signals or gates are active commit a noncriminal traffic infraction punishable by a $500 fine or 25 hours of community service, according to the Florida Legislature. Lawmakers strengthened the penalties in response to rising rail casualties statewide.
Florida's Outsized Rail Death Toll
The state's numbers back up the concern. Preliminary 2025 Federal Railroad Administration statistics compiled by Operation Lifesaver rank Florida third in the nation for rail trespass casualties, recording 86 total casualties including 65 fatalities and 21 injuries, trailing only California and Texas. Nationally, pedestrian trespassing on railroad property and highway-rail grade crossing collisions together account for over 95 percent of all rail-related deaths in the country, per Operation Lifesaver.
South Florida's passenger rail lines carry different risk profiles. Federal Railroad Administration data cited by Aronfeld Trial Lawyers indicates that Brightline's high-speed service averages roughly one fatality per 33,000 miles traveled, while Tri-Rail's commuter line maintains a lower casualty rate of approximately one death per 110,000 to 115,000 miles. More than 150 at-grade crossings exist across the region's urbanized rail corridors.
The Florida Department of Transportation has attempted to address the danger through engineering fixes. In 2019, the agency launched Operation S.T.R.I.D.E. to paint white dynamic envelope pavement markings at state rail crossings, visual indicators meant to keep pedestrians and vehicles out of the train clearance zone. Those markings have since been added to all state-maintained rail crossings in Florida, according to FDOT.
Municipal officials in West Palm Beach have separately flagged the stretch of corridor near Windsor Avenue and 25th Street for long-term sidewalk and crossing safety upgrades, citing its proximity to adjacent residential neighborhoods. While law enforcement and rail operators often point to trespassing or crossing-gate violations as the immediate cause of fatal strikes, community advocates and municipal planners have emphasized the need for grade separation, barrier enhancements, and improved pedestrian infrastructure along the corridor.
