Caltrain Continues Rail Safety and Suicide Prevention Efforts Throughout September

Media Contact: Mahmoud Abunie, 650-730-6201 

Executive Director Michelle Bouchard delivers remarks launching Rail Safety and Suicide Prevention Month. 

Caltrain is advancing its year-round commitment to rail safety and suicide prevention throughout September through a coordinated series of community events and safety initiatives. The efforts will connect the public with critical resources, promote life-saving decisions near railroad tracks and crossings, and strengthen partnerships that help protect passengers, pedestrians and communities across the Peninsula. 

The monthlong effort follows Caltrain’s Rail Safety Month kickoff event yesterday at San Jose Diridon Station, where Caltrain joined Capitol Corridor, ACE, Amtrak and Union Pacific for a Rail Safety Fair. The event brought together rail professionals and community members to share practical safety information and highlight how regional rail agencies and their partners work together to promote safe behavior around railroad tracks and crossings. 

“Safety remains Caltrain’s highest priority, and education is one of the most effective ways to prevent tragedies,” said Caltrain Executive Director Michelle Bouchard. “Rail Safety and Suicide Prevention Month gives us an important opportunity to connect directly with our communities, promote safe decisions around tracks and crossings, and remind people that help is available for anyone in crisis.” 

Throughout September, Caltrain will participate in additional events focused on rail safety, community awareness and suicide prevention: 

• Sept. 10, 9 a.m.-noon: Veterans and First Responders Suicide Prevention Event in Foster City. 
• Sept. 22, 9-10 a.m.: Operation Clear Track rail safety blitz at the Broadway and Burlingame crossing, in partnership with Transit Police and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. 
• Sept. 26, 1-5 p.m.: SamTrans 50th Celebration, featuring a Caltrain outreach booth at 166 N. Rollins Rd.  

Caltrain’s September outreach builds on the agency’s broader, year-round work to prevent trespassing, vehicle incursions and other unsafe activity along the railroad corridor. The Caltrain Board of Directors recently adopted the Caltrain Corridor Right-of-Way Safety Strategy, or CROWS, a corridor-wide framework that strengthens ongoing safety improvements across the system. 

The strategy combines education, outreach, enforcement, engineering improvements and updated standards and procedures. Guided by data-driven risk analysis and national best practices for trespass and suicide prevention, CROWS will help Caltrain identify high-risk locations, accelerate effective safety treatments and strengthen long-term monitoring and maintenance. 

Caltrain’s safety work has also earned national recognition. The agency recently received a Certificate of Merit in the American Public Transportation Association’s Rail Safety Award program, marking the second consecutive year Caltrain has received one of the public transit industry’s highest safety honors. APTA recognized 10 transit providers nationwide based on the effectiveness, benefits, innovation and transferability of their safety practices. Caltrain received the Gold Award for Commuter Rail Safety in 2025. 

Caltrain encourages everyone to stay alert near railroad tracks and crossings. People should always obey warning signs and signals, remain off tracks and railroad property, and expect trains at any time and from either direction. 

September is also Suicide Prevention Month. Caltrain encourages anyone experiencing a mental health or suicide crisis, or anyone concerned about a loved one, to call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

For rail safety information, visit Safety & Security | Caltrain. 

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About Caltrain: Owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain provides rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with commute service to Gilroy. Serving the region since 1863, Caltrain is the oldest continually operating rail system west of the Mississippi and the first railroad to convert from diesel to electric power in a generation.  

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