SFist: Yet another person hit by a Caltrain

Sivart13

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:14:43 -0800

For that expense, you get some of the most courteous employees I've seen (my god, a number of them seem to thank you for riding BART). Wait, what universe did this delusion happen in?

cv

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:39:22 -0800

A little passive-aggressive tonight, are we? I was noting BART/Caltrain times re: sirwalter's comment to benmullin33. That's all. Chill out man.

zippy_monster

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:52:21 -0800

cv: So once I take Caltrain to Milbrae, how long would it take me to back... from Millbrae to Montgomery on Caltrain, on a Friday night say around 11:30 after I'm done doing karaoke? Oh... Caltrain functions well as a commuter train. Dare I say very well? Baby bullets aren't the norm, and don't even run on the weekends. BART is not a commuter train, nor should it be. It's a "oh maybe I'll do something other than go to/from work" train. Yes, it's expensive when you compare it to antiquated diesel trains. Yes, it's even expensive compared to MUNI (who runs rubber tire equipped vehicles that are much cheaper per mile). For that expense, you get some of the most courteous employees I've seen (my god, a number of them seem to thank you for riding BART). For that expense, you also get dependable, more frequent service.

cv

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:17:16 -0800

sirwalter is correct: The Caltrain baby bullet takes 17 minutes from Millbrae to SF (4th & Townsend). BART takes 41 minutes from Millbrae to Montgomery Street. And that's skipping one station on the northbound direction (SF Airport).

murphstahoe

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:43:19 -0800

+1 sirwalter

manys

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:41:33 -0800

sirwalterralegh

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:16:10 -0800

benmullin333, BART is pretty lame for longer commutes, because it cannot express. Hence the beauty of the Caltrain express/baby bullet service. No one in their right mind would want to take a BART train from SF to Palo Alto instead of a Caltrain baby bullet. BART actually has some pretty serious limitations in that respect. It also doesn't have bathrooms and is generally less comfortable.

KeithFuckinMoon

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:27:43 -0800

"He is listed in critical condition." He was in critical condition before he was hit by the train.

qviri

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:28:37 -0800

5:15 a.m. is dark and quiet last I checked. It is virtually impossible to not notice a train coming through at that time, unless 1) you're deaf (and stock iPod earphones wouldn't do it either; maybe in-canal earphones) and 2) you are explicitly not looking while crossing the tracks. Otherwise, the whistle, engine noise, vibration, and lights will tip you off. This was not the case of someone trying to cross at a station to catch the train, or someone walking around the gates at a grade crossing (there is an elevated walkway over the tracks at highway 85). It may have been an accident, but it wasn't caused by anything Caltrain did or did not do.

benmullin333

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:56:17 -0800

Bart would be so much better that caltrain. You'd be able to catch a train every 20 minutes that would go to all points, and you wouldn't have to pick the right train leaving every hour. Oh yeah, and less accidents, too. You never hear of accidents on BART in El Cerito happening this regularly. BTW, tread easy on the victim... We don't really know if it was a suicide or someone's old mom with Alzheimer's.

Generic

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:46:45 -0800

There are tracks. The tracks don't move.

aj

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:32:29 -0800

Trespassers are often suicides, but if they are not they are often individuals who don't look where they are going and/or are wearing an iPod when they should be paying attention. Really the only way around it is to fence and/or elevate the whole thing.

MalcoveMagnesia

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:29:52 -0800

what kind of train engine is that in the picture? Looks like a Coast Daylight engine from 30+ years ago. It sure ain't a Caltrain engine. (you would know it's a Caltrain engine from the dents, scrapes and remains of grocery carts that vandals sometimes park on the tracks)

foghorn

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:28:29 -0800

I am often shamed by train ions. I find aluminum hats are an effective defense against these ions of doom.

Cyclelicious

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:14:04 -0800

Travin, the collision early this morning didn't occur near a train station.

Aventinus

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:42:55 -0800

Seriously? How many accidents does that make this month alone -- 3?

Slappydafrog

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:39:13 -0800

Darwin Award winners one and all!

travin

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:16:12 -0800

they aren't at all fast or sneaky. They usually make quite a racket. The problem is the interface of their train stations. The newer stations are 'better' and the old ones are downright scary dangerous. I'm surprised more people aren't regularly killed. Riding caltrain quite often over the years I've been inspired to consider starting a blog about local public transportation showing how deadly their street level interfaces really are.