Caltrain Participates in Rail Safety Month

Complacency around trains can lead to tragedy if one fails to use common sense and comply with safety guidelines. To highlight the importance of safety around train tracks and the high rate of intentional deaths on the rails, Caltrain is participating in Rail Safety & Suicide Prevention Month (September), with a proclamation unanimously passed by the Caltrain Board of Directors. 

“Safety is paramount at Caltrain and ensuring our daily train service is safe from San Francisco to Gilroy is our highest priority,” said Executive Director Michelle Bouchard. “At Caltrain, safety is a core value that we practice every day, and while we use this month to get the word out about how to stay safe around our trains, we stay committed to making this railroad safe year-round.”

In honor of Rail Safety & Suicide Prevention Month, Caltrain will be promoting rail safety tips and suicide prevention resources on its various social media platforms. The agency also is planning two rail safety events later in September to engage community members.

The agency has historically collaborated with suicide prevention agencies to prevent intentional deaths on the rails by posting crisis hotline signage at stations and points all along the corridor. Caltrain has been partnering with local behavioral and mental health organizations in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties for a number of years.

Caltrain addresses safety through a comprehensive, ongoing program that focuses on the “Three E’s” of railroad safety: Education, Engineering, and Enforcement. Examples of tips:

• If encountering an emergency on Caltrain or seeing something suspicious, call the Transit Police at 1.877.SAF.RAIL (1.877.723.7245).
• A typical Caltrain train can take nearly a mile to stop, even when emergency brakes are applied.
• It is never safe to stop closer than 15 feet from the rails, and a train is at least three feet wider than tracks on both sides.
• Only cross Caltrain tracks at designated crossings when it is safe to do so. While it might not be the quickest route, it is the safest.
• Caltrain’s new electric infrastructure carries up to 25,000 volts, so never interfere with overhead wires and avoid any downed wires. This is another important reason to never be on the tracks other than at a designated crossing, as a downed wire could energize another object such as a rail or fence, making them highly dangerous.