Man struck and killed by train in NE Houston

A young man was struck and killed by a train Saturday morning in northeast Houston near the 6900 block of Rankin Road just on the east side of the Eastex Freeway.

The man, believed to be in his late teens or early 20s, was walking down the middle of the tracks when a southbound train approached from behind. The train conductor sounded the horn and whistle, but the young man didn't appear to respond, said Jeff DeGraff, spokesperson for Union Pacific Railroad.

Investigators found a pair of earphones on the man's body, but it's unknown if he was using them when he was struck, DeGraff said. Also, the train's speed at the time of the accident is unknown.

Union Pacific will conduct an investigation and gather data from the train's cameras as well as the on-board data recorder. DeGraff expects the investigation to take a couple of weeks.

"Obviously this is why we urge all pedestrians to stay off of the tracks," DeGraff said. "You may think you'll be able to hear a train and see a train coming. They can be deceptive at times."

A Waltrip High School student was struck and killed by a train as he walked along the tracks on his way to school in October 2015. Waltrip organized a train safety seminar for all students the following month through the organization Operation Life Saver.

Texas is second in the nation behind California for trespassing deaths in 2014, with 41 deaths, according to statistics from the Federal Railroad Administration.