Man Killed on Tracks near Goleta Train Station

[UPDATE] The man killed while riding a bicycle along the train tracks on Thursday has been identified as Edmund Alexander Backus, 51, of Goleta, the Sheriff’s Office reported. He was struck while headed west with his back to the train, stated Captain Mike Eliason, spokesperson for Santa Barbara County Fire, which responded to the scene yesterday. Backus was struck near David Love Place and the bridge over San Pedro Creek.

About 10 passengers were on board the northbound Pacific Surfliner, which had been slowing as it approached the Goleta station, Eliason said. They were delayed on a siding for about an hour while a new train crew was sent to relieve those who had witnessed Backus’s death.

[ORIGINAL STORY] Despite a blowing horn and the rumble of an approaching west-bound Amtrak train, a man in his fifties was killed while walking on the train tracks near South La Patera Lane and the Goleta train station just after noon today. The train engineer applied the brakes and blew the train’s whistle as well, but the man on the tracks did not respond. The man appeared to have been wearing headphones, Sheriff’s spokesperson Kelly Hoover reported. The case remains under investigation, and this report will be updated.