The man who died in Brookfield after crashing into an Amtrak train has been identified by police

Beck Andrew Salgado, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
Brookfield police say a man in his 60s drove around the train crossing gates at Brookfield and River roads tonight and an Amtrak train collided with his car, killing him.
Brookfield police say a man in his 60s drove around the train crossing gates at Brookfield and River roads tonight and an Amtrak train collided with his car, killing him.

The man who died in a recent train crash in Brookfield has been identified as Thomas Seonbuchner.

The 61-year-old Brookfield resident died after he drove his car around the train crossing gates on Brookfield Road, just south of River Road. A passing Amtrak Empire Builder Train 7 collided with his vehicle.

None of the 183 passengers traveling from Chicago to Seattle were injured in the collision, but the Nov. 17 incident was not the first time there was a fatal crash at the Brookfield Road crossing. In 2019, a 70-year-old man died when he drove his car around the train crossing gates at that same crossing and collided with an Amtrak train.

Brookfield is now seeking to increase precautions at all train crossings

Following the recent crash, the city said it is now in the process of designing improvements for the crossing that will better prevent motorists from driving around the gates. These improvements could include a quadrant design crossing that would block cars from being able to get around any of the gates and onto the tracks.

The city hopes to have the work done sometime in 2023 but can only start the improvements once the Federal Railroad Administration approves the changes.

Brookfield has already redesigned four crossings within the city and is looking to redesign two more crossings in addition to the Brookfield Road crossing.

The other redesigns could include the addition of a median to prevent cars from entering through the open side of the crossing. The redesigns for the other crossing are expected to be completed sometime in the next two years, but the city said the timeline will primarily depend on how quickly the new designs can get approved.

Brookfield Road will be closed until Dec. 2 to allow the railroad to make repairs to the signals and controls. The city said it will remove the closure when the railroad confirms the crossings are safe and has warned pedestrians and cyclists not to cross the tracks until work on the crossing is finished.

Beck Andrew Salgado can be reached at Bsalgado@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Beck_Salgado.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man who died in Brookfield train crash has been identified by police