A man was fatally struck by an MBTA commuter rail train west of Ayer station on Monday evening, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. MBTA Transit Police said the man intentionally entered the right of way as the train approached, and the crash set off shuttle bus service and delays across part of the Fitchburg Line.
According to NBC Boston, shuttle buses replaced rail service on part of the line Monday night as crews worked the scene west of the station. A transit police spokesperson offered condolences to the man's family and friends, the outlet reported. The crash prompted delays on the Fitchburg Line that rippled through the MBTA commuter rail's evening schedule.
Delays Rippled Through the Fitchburg Line
The disruption showed up directly in the MBTA's own service alerts. Per MBTA scheduling data, Fitchburg Line Train 4026, which was due to leave Wachusett at 9:25 p.m., ran 20 to 30 minutes behind schedule between Silver Hill and North Station because of what the alert described as police activity on the right of way. Riders on the line that night were left waiting on platforms or shuttled around the affected stretch of track while investigators worked.
Monday's crash is not the first time trains have struck people in Ayer. In a 2022 incident on the same line, a man was critically injured after being struck by an outbound Fitchburg Line train around 3:40 p.m., the same NBC Boston report on that event noted. All train traffic on the Fitchburg Line stopped that day while investigators completed their work, and the MBTA warned riders of significant delays in both directions.
A Known Stretch of Track
An earlier fatality also occurred near Ayer station. In 2018, a 33-year-old man carrying a bicycle was killed after being struck by a commuter rail train on Track 1 roughly 400 yards east of the station, according to the Lowell Sun. At the time, an Ayer fire department lieutenant said the area had seen other incidents involving pedestrians or vehicles struck by trains, telling the paper, “We have had incidents here where we've had pedestrians who were struck by a train or vehicles that have been struck by a train.”
Pedestrian strikes on the MBTA system have continued to surface elsewhere on the network this year. In February, a person was struck and killed by a train on the Haverhill Line in the Bradford area, with the Haverhill Fire Department confirming the strike to Boston 25 News. Earlier this month, two separate commuter rail trains fatally struck pedestrians in Boston and Abington just 15 minutes apart on a Monday afternoon, according to MBTA Police, as reported by Boston.com.
A Persistent National Problem
Railroad trespassing deaths remain a stubborn safety issue nationwide, though the exact scale of the problem is reported inconsistently. Operation Lifesaver's trespassing-casualty tracker states that 1,311 pedestrian rail trespass casualties occurred across the U.S. in 2025, including 789 fatalities and 522 injuries, while a separate search-result snippet tied to the same page cites a slightly different tally of 1,314 casualties, with 788 deaths and 526 injuries. Whichever figure is accurate, Operation Lifesaver says roughly 86% of all 2025 trespass casualties occurred in the 25 states it ranks on that page.
No further details on the man killed in Ayer, including his identity, have been released. MBTA Transit Police have not disclosed what led him to enter the right of way beyond confirming that the entry appeared intentional as the train approached.
