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RT worker struck, killed by light rail train
By Chelsea Phua and Ryan Lillis - cphua@sacbee.com
Last Updated 10:40 pm PDT Thursday, July 24, 2008
A 40-year-old Sacramento Regional Transit District employee was struck and killed in North Highlands by a light rail train Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
Sacramento County Coroner's officials identified him as Troy Steven Schafer of Rocklin.
RT officials said the track maintenance employee was lubricating the tracks east of the Watt/I-80 West light rail station when an train traveling between Longview Drive and Watt Avenue hit him about 1:25 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
"We have lost a member of the RT family, and we are devastated," said Mike Wiley, the agency's general manager and chief executive officer.
"He's an incredible father, an incredible man," said Schafer's wife, Donna Schafer, when reached by telephone at their Rocklin home Thursday night. "Right now, the house is full of people who love him."
A father of two boys, ages 10 and 11, Schafer was a youth baseball coach and an avid hunter. Donna Schafer said her husband would go out of his way to help his friends.
RT police services deputies and safety personnel are conducting an investigation, which will last at least six weeks, said Alane Masui, RT spokeswoman. The investigation will include a review of vehicle operating data from the train's event recorders, video recordings from the train's cameras, surveillance video from the light-rail station and the agency's safety protocols and guidelines, Masui said.
"There are a number of safety procedures in place to protect employees working on the track," Masui said.
The train operator was also immediately tested for drugs and alcohol, RT officials said.
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