TWO DIE ON TRAIN TRACKS INVESTIGATORS UNSURE IF DEATHS WERE SUICIDE OR ACCIDENT.

Byline: CAROL ROCK and PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM Staff Writers

NEWHALL - A Metrolink train hit and killed a young couple Thursday afternoon as the pair walked along the tracks in Newhall.

A note written in Spanish was found near the bodies of the 19- and 20-year-olds, but sheriff's deputies, awaiting a translation, were uncertain if it belonged to the pair.

An off-duty sheriff's deputy who saw a man and a woman on the siding reported it about 3:30 p.m.

``We have no eyewitnesses and no information as to why they were on the tracks or for how long,'' Deputy Tony Arnold said.

Investigators cordoned off the area, focusing their attention on a stretch of track, photographing items found on the ground near the ties and taking videotape of the scene. The estimated point of impact was near several signs warning of the dangers of walking near tracks.The incident was near San Fernando Road at 15th Street in Newhall, a straight-away along the rail. Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said that trains run as fast as 80 mph, although she didn't immediately know how fast this one was traveling.

Sheriff's homicide detectives will investigate.

Metrolink has taken a hard stand against ``trespassers'' on its tracks, Tyrrell said.``If we'd have caught them, we would have busted both of them,'' she said. ``At minimum, it's a big ticket - $300 - or we could actually arrest them if it's a second offense.

``We're not kidding around, and this is why. Here we have two young people who aren't going home tonight, who aren't going home any night.''

Tyrrell said people who use rail tracks as walkways hold two misconceptions - that they'll feel a vibration as a train approaches, or they will hear it. Neither is true.

``You cannot feel the vibration and if the wind is blowing or they have an iPod or they're talking on the phone, a train can come up on them.''

Just 10 passengers were aboard the Santa Clarita-to-Union Station train and none was injured, Tyrrell said.

The Antelope Valley line that runs from Lancaster to Los Angeles with stops in Santa Clarita, the San Fernando Valley, Burbank and Glendale, was shut down for about two hours until the investigation was complete. Passengers were taken by bus to the next train stop.The engineer saw the train hit ``something'' and will be counseled, Tyrrell said.

``But there is no amount of counseling that can remove that trauma. You're going to be scarred.''

Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Pulskamp surveyed the situation, wondering if more could be done to warn people away from railroad tracks.

"I'm here to see if there's anything we can learn from this so it doesn't happen again,'' Pulskamp said. ``That's why we have all of this - the noise, the bells. It's so tragic.''

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

(color -- ran in SAC edition only) Sheriff deputies investigate the scene where two pedestrians were struck by a southbound Metrolink train Thursday afternoon. The incident took place along San Fernadno Road near 15th Street in Newhall.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

Map:

Two pedestrains killed on tracks

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