Lawrence Resident Killed By Train

A man was struck and killed by a train in Lawrence Township late Thanksgiving night.

Township Police have identified the victim as Brian Remde, a 23-year-old resident of the 100 block of Franklin Corner Road in Lawrence.

Authorities are considering Remde’s death a suicide.

NJ Transit spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said Remde was trespassing along railroad property when he was hit by the train about 11:15 p.m. in the vicinity of the Quakerbridge Road overpass. The man was killed instantly, emergency officials said.

The NJ Transit train, No. 7879, left New York Penn Station at 9:57 p.m. and was due to arrive at the Trenton train station at 11:19 p.m., Carroll said.

She said there were about 250 passengers aboard the train; there were no injuries to passengers or train crew. The passengers eventually continued their journey to Trenton after they were transferred to another train that the brought in, she added.

While the investigation at the incident scene went on for several hours, there was minimal impact to rail service because two of the four Northeast Corridor tracks remained open and train traffic was already reduced due to the holiday, according to Carroll.

Lawrence Township Police issued a press release Friday night.

“Investigation by detectives from Lawrence Township Police Department, New Jersey Transit Police and AMTRAK Police revealed Mr. Remde intentionally stepped in front of the moving New Jersey Transit train,” Police spokesman Lt. Mark Ubry wrote in the release. “Mr. Remde’s vehicle was located nearby in the Lawrence Square Village complex.”

According to the news release, the Mercer County Medical Examiner’s Office “removed the deceased at approximately 4 a.m. and travel on the rail lines was returned to normal at approximately 6 a.m.”