A Los Angeles County Metro train hit a cyclist near Veterans Park in Long Beach late Saturday morning, critically injuring the person and closing lanes of traffic on Spring Street for hours, police said.
The Long Beach Police Department said that at around 11:16 a.m., officers responded to the area of Spring Street and Del Mar Avenue, which runs alongside the Metro A Line, where a train headed toward Downtown hit a cyclist crossing the tracks.
Officers said the male cyclist rode around the crossing arms that were down and tried to cross the tracks before being hit. Long Beach Fire Department personnel transported him to a local hospital for treatment of his critical injuries.
Shuttle buses replacing A (BLUE) LINE between Willow and Wardlow Stations due to train-person incident.
— LA Metro Rider Alerts (@metrolaalerts) December 31, 2022
Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Jack Crabtree said the train was evacuated and Long Beach Transit assisted in getting people from the train to their destinations.
The train remains on the tracks as an investigation of the scene is still ongoing, and Spring Street is closed between Pacific Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard. A city alert indicated that the street could be closed for several hours.
Metro tweeted that a shuttle will replace the train service between the Willow and Wardlow stations because of the ongoing investigation.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more information from the Long Beach Fire Department.