The recent spate of unfortunate deaths along the Caltrain line cause speculation as to what can be done to better educate and inform the public about the dangers of trespassing on railroad tracks.
There have been seven deaths so far in 2006, of which three have been determined to be suicides. One involved an errant motorist who went around the crossing gate in the Morgan Hill area and was struck by a Caltrain traveling at the allowed speed of 79 miles per hour. His life was spared but his girlfriend was killed.
Another involved a pedestrian in Redwood City who went around the gate over the sidewalk and was struck by a train in the northbound direction. A southbound train had passed so she may have assumed the tracks would be clear and did not look to see the northbound train.
Two very tragic incidents involved teenagers, both trespassing on the privately-owned right of way, not at specified crossings. A statement was made by a friend of victims said “we didn’t hear the train coming.” Should they not have looked both ways and seen the oncoming train?
The standard statement made for safety is always “stop, look and listen.” Don’t you look both ways when you cross a street? If the whistle was constantly blowing Caltrain would be heavily criticized, which it already is for blowing the whistle, required by law, for all grade crossings.
Another comment heard many times is that Caltrain should fence the right of way. That is an easy solution to suggest, but it is not practical. First, the fences will be cut within a week by those who wish to short-cut and trespass. Second, the cost would be prohibitive. One comment made to Caltrain by a Sunnyvale resident suggested that a fence in that area “would be dangerous for those who would climb the fence.”
During my days with Amtrak, I recall that a section of the line between Los Angeles and San Diego at San Clemente had many trespassers, mostly surfers, accessing the beach and ocean. Trains operate up to 90 mph through this area so fencing was put in as the city built an underpass to the pier and beach. The fence was cut immediately, repaired, cut, repaired, and so on, even though the underpass was less than two blocks from the affected area.
Education and enforcement are two answers. Operation Lifesaver, established in Idaho in 1973, is in every one of the contiguous 48 states. Its origin mission was to reduce grade crossing incidents, but today it is also concentrating on trespassing. California once led the nation in grade crossing fatalities, and is now sixth. Texas is first. But California now leads the nation in trespassing incidents.
As a long time member and past chair of California Operation Lifesaver, I am constantly beating the drums on safety. One program is “Officer on the Tin” whereby police and sheriff jurisdictions are invited to ride with the engineer in the cab to see the infractions that occur on a regular basis. In some areas the officers radio patrol cars to ticket infractions. A recent program in Stockton resulted in issuing over 500 citations.
Operation Lifesaver will send volunteer presenters to schools, civic groups, and clubs to talk about safety along the railroad. If I am speaking, I always close with the following comment: “When the gates come down at a crossing, the train is traveling 61 m.p.h. It usually will take less than 50 seconds for the gates to come up. Is your life worth 60 seconds?”
Arthur L. Lloyd is a member of the board that operates Caltrain and the San Mateo County Transit District.
Joan Lane, trailblazing volunteer and Stanford’s go-to for ‘sticky problems,' dies at 97March 25, 2026 3:23 pm