From San Jose Mercury News
Deaths rise to 10 on Caltrain tracks
By Karen de Sá
In the latest tragedy to mark an especially deadly year for Caltrain, a man was killed on the railroad tracks in Palo Alto on Saturday morning.
The victim of the apparent suicide on an open stretch of track along Alma Street near East Meadow Drive was not immediately identified, but Caltrain spokesman Jonah Weinberg described him as middle-aged.
He becomes the 10th person to die on the rail lines this year, and the sixth probable suicide. With more than five months left in the year, that total already matches the number of deaths on the tracks between San Francisco and San Jose for all of 2005.
Historically, the rail agency has dealt with the tragic side of its transportation mission quietly. But with the number of deaths and suicides on the tracks on the rise, Caltrain is taking a more outspoken role, Weinberg said.
The transit agency has stepped up safety and suicide prevention efforts, she said. Saturday night, Caltrain employees joined an all-night fundraising walk in San Francisco to raise money for suicide prevention. Among those joining the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's 20-mile "Out of the Darkness Overnight" were a Caltrain transit officer and locomotive engineer who have handled multiple deaths.
Residents living near the site of Saturday's fatality, however, said more needs to be done to keep Caltrain's tracks safe. Along nearby Park Boulevard, death on the tracks has become a painful part of neighborhood life.
Renee Hofer awoke Saturday to the sound of emergency crews just over her tree-lined fence bordering the train tracks. Sadly, after 18 years on the street, it was not an unusual background noise. Hofer remembers a sixth-grader in her son's class killed on the tracks. She also recalled the many deaths that were not accidents, she said.
"As a society, we do almost nothing for people with mental illness," she said. "And it's horrible."
Musician Bonny Pettegrew's two guests arrived Saturday morning from San Francisco on a train that slowed down enough for passengers to see yellow body bags. After 32 years living on the rail lines, Pettegrew has a routine to protect herself. She avoids walking near the tracks for several hours after a suicide, fearing she'll see something horrific.
It's impossible to live on Park Boulevard and remain unaffected, neighbors repeated. They've had bangs on their doors from hysterical witnesses and struggled to understand why forlorn teens have parked cars on the tracks.
"How are you going to stop that?" Pettegrew asked. "It's just heartbreaking."
E-mail Karen de Sá at kdesa@mercurynews.com |
