Driver fatally struck by Amtrak train while driving on tracks in Deerfield

A driver was struck and killed by an Amtrak train Thursday evening while driving on the tracks in suburban Deerfield.

It’s unclear why the driver of a Toyota Tacoma truck went onto the tracks just south of the Lake Cook Road station, Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said.

He was driving south and either got stuck or was overtaken by a southbound Amtrak train from Milwaukee shortly before 7 p.m., Gillis said.

The truck caught fire and the driver was pronounced dead, he said. His name and autopsy results have not been released.

Metra was investigating the crash because it happened on a stretch of Metra-owned tracks that Amtrak uses, Gillis said.