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Rail Safety
Caltrain continues its commitment to ensure a safe and
reliable rail system for both its passengers and the
neighbors who live and work along the line. Since the
Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board acquired the
rail line in 1992, Caltrain has focused on the three Es
of rail safety: Education, Engineering and Enforcement.
Education:
Caltrain makes great efforts to reach out to the community
to educate children and adults about rail safety. As a
member of Operation Lifesaver, the international rail safety
organization, Caltrain regularly gives presentations to
schools and other community groups to inform and
reinforce safe behavior around railroads.
This year, Caltrain launched a new safety campaign called
“Don’t Shortcut Life.” All schools within one-half mile of
the tracks in Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco
counties were contacted to allow Caltrain staff to visit and
make rail safety presentations to their students. To date,
more than 25 schools have responded and more than
1,000 students have seen the presentations.
In addition, Caltrain took an unusual step as a rail agency
this year and launched a campaign to educate the
community about rail suicide. Historically, rail agencies,
including Caltrain, have remained fairly silent about suicide
fatalities, partially because it is virtually impossible to keep
people off the tracks if they are determined to access them,
and partially out of the fear of copycat efforts. This year,
Caltrain joined with the American Suicide Prevention
Foundation to participate in the “Out of the Darkness”
campaign. This collaboration allowed Caltrain to reach
out to the community to request help from everyone in
identifying potential rail suicide victims and get them
help, and to assist in bringing public attention to the tragedy
of suicide. Caltrain enlisted the help of one of its locomotive
engineers, a conductor and a transit police officer to raise
awareness of the other victims of rail suicide – the train
crews who respond to and deal with the aftermath of the
incident. This train crew participated in ASPF’s 20-mile,
overnight walk to raise money and awareness for
suicide prevention, bringing in nearly $8,000 from
passengers and supporters of the cause.
Engineering:
Safe rail systems do not just happen. They are
engineered or built to be safe. Caltrain’s railway
has been designed to exceed national safety
requirements, including active signals at each
at-grade crossing; signage along the agency’s
right of way to remind people of the dangers of
walking on or crossing the tracks between
designated crossings; fences to deter access
to the tracks in areas of frequent trespassing;
and fences between the tracks at most stations
to prevent unsafe crossing; and many other features.
Damage to fencing is a chronic problem in some areas,
where people often cut openings in order to use illegal
crossings from one area to another. Every year, Caltrain
spends tens of thousands of dollars to maintain and
repair fencing along the right of way. In some areas,
Caltrain has had to install expensive, heavy duty fencing
that is difficult to cut or climb. While it is not as attractive
as some other less substantial fences, it is one of the
only effective means of preventing the damage or destruction
of the fencing. This year, Caltrain is putting an additional
$1.5 million toward fencing to focus on areas that have a
proven pattern of illegal crossings. Caltrain approached all
of the cities along the right of way for input about where they
would like fencing to improve safety. Caltrain is in the
process of evaluating and prioritizing the recommendations
in order to most effectively fence off those areas with the
highest need. Caltrain hopes to receive similar funding for
fencing in future budgets to continue the program.
Caltrain will be installing video cameras and recorders on
the front of its locomotives to record the train engineer’s
perspective during each trip. This video will allow Caltrain
to better track areas of high trespassing, as well as assist
law enforcement in its investigations in the case of an
accident or incident on the tracks.
Enforcement:
Education and engineering can only do so much to prevent
access to the tracks. That is where enforcement plays a role
in safety. With 77 miles of track in Caltrain’s service area, transit
police cannot patrol the entire length of the system during every
hour of the day. In order to be more effective, Caltrain works
closely with all the law enforcement agencies in the various
municipalities along the right of way. These police and sheriff’s
departments help Caltrain respond to incidents at stations and
along the tracks. Additionally, they can cite trespassers on
the tracks, or traffic infractions around active signals, with
fines averaging $300 or more.
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