Pedestrian dies after being hit by SMART train in Santa Rosa

A train struck and killed a man in southwest Santa Rosa, shutting the tracks for about two hours on Tuesday.

The train hit the pedestrian near West Robles Avenue, said Krista Butts, a communication supervisor with Redcom, the emergency dispatch service. The 5:01 p.m. train was the first to be affected.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. J. Haugen, who preferred to be identified by his first initial, confirmed the man had died but said authorities were still working to identify him.

“We’ll know a lot more after we figure out who he is and talk to his family,” Haugen said.

He said the collision occurred in an unincorporated area outside of Santa Rosa city limits, and no details were available yet about the circumstances of the collision.

At least 15 people have died after being hit by trains since SMART initiated service in August 2017. Of the 14 previous deaths, eight were ruled suicides and six were determined to be accidental. Four other people have been hit by trains in accidents but survived.

Units from the Santa Rosa Fire Department, the Sonoma County Fire District and Sonoma Life Support ambulance responded to the call that came in from the SMART train dispatch at 6:06 p.m., Butts said.

The scene of the collision had been cleared before 8:30 p.m. While the tracks were closed, buses picked up passengers in Cotati and took them to stations north of town.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com.