A man in his 60s is in critical condition after a Sacramento Regional Transit light rail train ran him over Tuesday morning in Old North Sacramento, officials said. The man suffered a severe leg injury after he tried to cross between two connected train cars instead of using a designated station crossing, according to RT officials.
The incident was reported around 8:05 a.m. near the 800 block of Arden Way, according to the Sacramento Fire Department and Regional Transit officials, as reported by the Sacramento Bee. The train involved was a Blue Line vehicle, and RT officials said the train began moving while the man was crossing at the point where the two cars connect. He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
A Stretch of Track Already Under Scrutiny
The Blue Line runs through Old North Sacramento and connects the Watt/Interstate 80 area with downtown Sacramento and Cosumnes River College, per the same Sacramento Bee account. The corridor near Arden Way has drawn safety attention before: in August, KCRA reported that a train struck two pedestrians along tracks in North Sacramento, killing one person and injuring another.
SacRT's official passenger safety guidelines instruct riders to cross tracks only at designated station pedestrian crossings and to stay behind yellow platform lines rather than stepping between train cars, according to the agency's own rail safety guidance. The incident involved a man attempting to cross between two connected train cars.
A System Mid-Overhaul
SacRT is carrying out platform work along the Blue Line in preparation for Siemens S700 low-floor trains expected in 2027. Hoodline previously covered a Blue Line detour tied to that same platform work earlier this year.
Transit crime was reported at 2.7 incidents per million trips.
The incident was reported near the 800 block of Arden Way.
The agency has not said whether the man used the station platform at all before attempting to cross between the cars, and it remains unclear what warning, if any, train operators had before the train began moving.
