Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

A longtime state Senate staffer was hit and killed by a light rail train Thursday morning in St. Paul.

The woman later identified as Lynne Thomas was hit by a westbound light rail train near the intersection of University and Snelling Avenues at about 7:30 a.m., according to Metro Transit spokesperson Howie Padilla. 

Emergency responders performed CPR and transported Thomas to Regions Hospital, where Thomas was later pronounced dead, Padilla said. 

Thomas was walking south from the northeast corner of University and Snelling when she was hit, Padilla said, although it's not yet clear why she was on the tracks.

Metro Transit police are investigating the incident. 

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk announced her death on the floor of the Senate during the morning's session and called for a moment of silence. 

Bakk said Thomas was a graduate of the University of North Dakota and worked at the Bismarck Tribune following graduation.

Thomas started working for the office currently known as Senate Counsel, Research and Fiscal Analysis in 1987, Bakk said. An email sent to Senate staffers described Thomas as "a loyal and dedicated Senate employee." 

Thomas was the first receptionist that the office hired and had continued in that role through almost three decades, said Director Tom Bottern.

"She knew the Capitol very well. Always attuned to what was happening and trying to keep a step ahead," Bottern said of Thomas. "She was very good at helping us make sure we can get our jobs done and at the same time making sure we were available to the people who needed help right away." 

Bottern said Thomas' death shocked staffers in the office of about 30 employees. He said Thomas always welcomed everybody to the office with a smile. He described her as very pleasant.

"Lynne in a sense was a rare commodity, somebody that you connected immediately with the place where you worked in a very positive way," Bottern said. "She just provided a wonderful continuity for our work here, which can be chaotic at times."

Thomas is survived by her father, two brothers and a significant other, according to Bakk. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

It's the second pedestrian death on the Green Line since it started operation last summer. A Green Line train struck and 

Crime, Law and Justice

Minnesota News

Twin Cities News

Tim Nelson

Author

Jon Collins

Lynne Thomas, a Minnesota Senate staffer, was identified as the woman hit and killed in the morning train accident. The Senate held a moment of silence in her honor.

Jon Collins | MPR News

Lynne M. Thomas worked for the Minn. Senate.

Green Line train hits, kills pedestrian in St. Paul

Go Deeper.

Like this?