A Metro-North track worker is dead after being hit by a train in West Haven, according to Metro-North and West Haven police.
Metro-North identified the worker as Robert Luden, 52, of East Haven. Luden, a track foreman, was a 27-year veteran of Metro-North, a spokesperson said.
A westbound Metro-North train that left New Haven at 11:53 a.m. struck a Luden in the area of Hood Terrace around noon.
He was on the tracks, working with a crane and moving a boom when he was hit, officials said. Luden said a train was on one track and Luden was on a second track, He was not operating the crane, officials said.
It is too early to determine how this happened.
Workers said the train was heading to New York and the employee was on a maintenance train working on the new West Haven station.
One employee said she heard the whistle alerting people to get out of the way minutes before the train came through.
Service was shut down in both directions in the vicinity of Milford. It has since been restored between New Haven and Milford, and Upper New Haven line service is operating on or close to schedule, according to Metro-North.
A passenger said the train was moving slowly because it was going through a construction zone and came to an abrupt stop.
Officials said there will be an investigation.
The last time there was a fatal Metro-North incident involving a worker was in January 2009 in Paris, New York, a Metro-North official said.
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