SEPTA investigating circumstances that led to dead body atop train

SEPTA police are trying to figure out how and why a man was found dead on top of an eastbound Market Frankford Line train at Girard Station.

Darryl C. Murphy

February 3, 2020

An empty platform at Girard Station on the Market-Frankford line this morning. (Joe Hernandez/WHYY)

SEPTA police are trying to figure out how and why a man was found dead on top of an eastbound Market Frankford Line train at Girard Station this morning.

The authority received a report shortly before noon. SEPTA counts the fatality as a first for 2020.

It’s also the second reported fatality on the Market Frankford Line in less than two months. The last death occurred in December 2019 when a man was struck and killed after falling in between train cars at 8th Street Station in Center City.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch says it is rare to find a body on top of a train.

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In 2017, a teenager was found dead on top of a Regional Rail train at Jefferson Station burned beyond recognition. The 15-year-old was electrocuted.

“This isn’t an area that customers are allowed to access and we don’t normally have incidents of people getting on top of trains,” said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch. Investigators are now reviewing surveillance videos.

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