Bicyclist fatally struck by Amtrak train in Oconomowoc

By Michele Fiore

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    OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (WDJT) — Investigators are trying to learn more after a bicyclist was hit and killed by a train in Waukesha County. It happened in downtown Oconomowoc Tuesday afternoon,

Sunny skies and comfortable temperatures Tuesday drew a lot of people outdoors to downtown Oconomowoc.

“The town is busy with cyclists and pedestrians this time of year, when it’s nice weather,” said Michael Patee, Oconomowoc resident and regular cyclist.

But the afternoon turned deadly for one bicyclist at this railroad crossing on Silver Lake Street. Dispatchers took the call from Amtrak around 1:30 p.m.

We heard the radio transmissions on Broadcastify: “They were on a sidewalk riding a bike, went directly through the crossing.”

“So a sidewalk, you said? Over.” They went around the gates on the sidewalk and right in front of us.”

Amtrak Train 1333 left Chicago around 11 a.m., headed for Minnesota with 179 passengers on board. None were hurt. After the crash, it was held back, and several railroad crossings were blocked for about three hours before the train left at 4:30 p.m. Amtrak Train 8/28 headed to Chicago was also delayed.

Witnesses tell us they did see the gates that were down when the Amtrak came through. Hours later, those gates are down once again.

Radio transmissions on Broadcastify also captured this: “And you said the gate arms were down and active. Over.”

“Yeah, everything we found was working as intended.”

It remains unclear why the bicyclist didn’t stop.

A statement from the company said, “Amtrak continues to work closely with Operation Lifesaver to #STOPTrackTragedies by emphasizing the obvious dangers of being on railroad property or disregarding warnings at rail crossings.”

Passenger trains can travel at speeds up to 79 mph through downtown Oconomowoc. Some we spoke with say that’s too fast.

“Sometimes you don’t even hear the Amtrak trains. It’s quite a quiet train when it’s traveling at speed, and unless it blows, and you see the signals, you don’t know it’s coming,” said Patee.

Oconomowoc police are not releasing the identity of the person killed and are also refusing to say as of Tuesday night something the community has been hoping to learn – whether that person was a child or adult.

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