A resident of Doylestown was riding SEPTA home from a Christmas show in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon when the train struck and killed a woman on the tracks at the Melrose Park station in Cheltenham Township.

A songwriter “on and off for over 30 years”, the resident (who wished to remain anonymous) said his family and their neighbors were stuck for roughly two hours following the incident, which temporarily shut down the Doylestown, Warminster and West Trenton lines. When they finally got home, he wrote a song to process the experience.

“I write to process life events. As soon as the train stopped, I could tell something happened. I could see it on the conductor’s face when he stepped off the train,” he told Glenside Local. “We sat for about two hours. People were getting restless and the kids, all of whom are under eight, were getting restless. We were trying to keep them entertained.”

Passengers were told there was a trespasser on the tracks, but no further information regarding whether it was intentional or accidental was given, he said.

“I still don’t know exactly what happened. I started writing the lyrics on the way home and finished it that night,” he said. “I was really thinking about how people are going to be affected by this in different ways.”

The song is below:

The incident is under investigation by law enforcement and the woman remains unidentified. We will update this article if new information becomes available.

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