SEPTA Worker Critical After Fall

A SEPTA worker is fighting for her life after falling from a moving train Tuesday morning.

The injured worker used a flashlight to signal for help and police found her along the train tracks in Tullytown, Bucks County.

SEPTA said the 38-year-old assistant conductor was listed in critical condition Tuesday night with head trauma and a broken leg at Hahnemann University Hospital.

It's an amazing story because, despite being initially knocked unconscious by the fall, she was still able to get help, Fox 29's Robin Taylor reported.

The R7 train was on-time and headed to West Trenton when, minutes after stopping in Levittown, the unthinkable happened.

SEPTA said the assistant conductor, who moves from car to car taking tickets, fell from the train. Yet, no one noticed.

"Precisely what happened we don't know, and we haven't been able to talk to her about it," SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said.

Police said the unconscious woman was lying injured beside the tracks for more than two hours. SEPTA said no one realized she was missing when the R7 arrived in Trenton because that's where the crew switched trains.

"She went missing and no one knew about it for a long period of time until, with her wherewithal, with her flashlight, she was able to flag down a train and be rescued," Maloney said.

Flashlights can be used to send a signal to trains. Up-and-down means go. Side-to-side means stop. SEPTA believes the injured worker was able to wave side-to-side.

A Septa train saw the signal and radioed ahead to an Amtrak train that stopped and provided assistance.

Amtrak employees tried to keep her warm until medics arrived. Police found her ticket puncher and train schedules nearby.

"This is an awful tragedy. The actual cause of this we're going to investigate it, how this happened," Maloney said. "Something must have happened on that train to her in the process of her work that caused here to trip and simply fall out the door."