Melbourne police investigate second fatal Brightline train collision in three days

Update: The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it would send a team to Melbourne to investigate.

Two people were killed Friday in the collision of a Brightline train and vehicle that happened in the same location as a Wednesday crash which claimed the life of a 62-year-old man.

The latest fatal crash involving the private railway line happened at about 12:45 p.m. Friday on the railroad tracks at WH Jackson Street near U.S. 1. Police identified those killed as Lisa Ann Batchelder, 52, of Melbourne, who was driving, and passenger Michael Anthony Degasperi, 54, also of Melbourne. The 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche in which they were traveling was headed west on Jackson when it was struck by a southbound Brightline train operating on the easternmost railway, police said.

Mayor Paul Alfrey, who went to the scene shortly after getting notice about the crash, said police saw the driver try to go around the railway gates before being struck. Melbourne police were looking into eyewitness accounts, officials said.

"I need to stress to people, you have to follow traffic laws, including around trains ... this is about personal responsibility; you can't be dumb," Alfrey said.

Brightline officials, including CEO Michael Reininger, have not responded to requests for comment.

The mangled wreckage of the pickup could be seen wrapped along the lower portion of the train's cone. About three hours after the crash, Brightline passengers were moved to another train, according to a post from X user Vadim Graboys.

Graboys documented the crash and ensuing events on the social media site Friday, saying he had felt the impact and heard "a bunch of loud noises" before the train stopped.

"The announcer first announced that we’re stopped due to a 'safety precaution' and should be moving shortly, but now they're saying 'the train has been in an incident and will remain here until further notice,'" he posted at about 1:13 p.m.

The passenger train dragged the pickup at least 300 yards before coming to a stop just south of Jernigan Street, police reported.

Officers arrived moments after the collision and shut down access to Jackson, said Sgt. Ben Slover of the Melbourne Police Department. Brightline and Florida Eastcoast Railway teams joined the investigation.

Medical examiners were also present on the scene, which was ringed with yellow crime scene tape shortly after the crash. The train appeared to have sustained damage to its front end and remained stopped throughout the afternoon. Police interviewed several eyewitnesses who saw the crash and were seeking video surveillance camera footage from nearby businesses.

Safety precautions being studied

The train that connects Miami to Orlando blares a horn when approaching intersections or cutting through heavily populated areas, and gate arms come down to block traffic from crossing the track.

The latest crash comes as Melbourne city officials expressed concern about increasing efforts to educate the public about the Brightline trains, which move through the area 30 times a day between Orlando and Miami.

Alfrey said he and other city officials are working with Brightline to implement safety measures including a quad gate with four railway arms that would lower as trains approach. The tracks are privately owned, with two railway arms blocking access on either side.

Friday's collision was the fourth Brightline-related crash to take place in Brevard in three months, with all taking place along the densely populated corridor of U.S. 1. Three other people died in separate incidents in that time frame, including two pedestrians.

Wednesday, Charles Phillips, 62, a Melbourne musician, died after his sport utility vehicle apparently headed toward the tracks and collided with the passenger train. Three others were injured, including a 9-year-old child. That accident remains under investigation.

TC Palm reported Oct. 16, 2023, that at least 364 people have been killed by trains belonging to 13 different companies in Florida since 2017.

Brightline trains killed more people per mile in the U.S. last year and more people in Florida since its founding in 2017 than any other railroad company, a TCPalm analysis of federal data found.

In 2023, there were six train-related fatals in Brevard County, including two pedestrians struck by Brightline, according to the medical examiner’s office. No determination has been made as to whether the deaths were accidental or otherwise, police reported. There were four train-related deaths the year before in Brevard County, before Brightline began its route through the county.

Brightline trains run through Brevard County from early morning to late evening. The first departure from Orlando is at 4:38 a.m. and the last is at 8:54 p.m. on a roughly 3½-hour trip to Miami. Trains leave Miami for Orlando anywhere from 6:41 a.m. to 9:41 p.m., with the last train typically passing through Brevard after midnight.

In a recent interview, Katie Mitzner, director of public affairs at Brightline, said Brightline has installed various safety measures at crossings in Brevard.

Brightline's efforts include installing either quad gates or raised medians at crossings in Brevard where trains pass at speeds of more than 79 mph, encompassing 40 of the 50 crossings Brightline trains pass within Brevard. The quad gates ― also known as four-quadrant gates ― span all the lanes of traffic in each direction, rather than only the traffic lanes a vehicle would approach the tracks from. These measures act as safeguards against motorists trying to maneuver around the crossings when the gates are down and the train is approaching.

J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twittter, @JDGallop.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne police: Two dead in Friday Brightline crash