After an unsuccessful run at the Mayor's office, former District 8 supervisor and Willie Brown staffer Bevan Dufty has a new post with the San Mateo County Transit District. Dufty will be the new interim community relations manager for SamTrans and Caltrain. more ›

Two people died in separate incidents on Caltrain tracks on Saturday. The incidents occurred within an hour of each other near the California Ave Caltrain Station in Palo Alto and just North of the Menlo Park station, according to a Caltrain spokesperson. more ›

Bicyclists. They ruin everything. Like, for example, your morning commute. As the SF Examiner dutifully points out, a heated round of words between a bicyclist and a Caltrain conductor delayed service by a shocking 10 minutes this morning. "Police were called to the San Carlos station around 9 a.m. The bicyclist was reprimanded for riding on the platform, which is prohibited, and got into it with the conductor." more ›

As part of their recent crackdown on bad bike behavior, SFPD once again butt heads with bike commuters, this time at Fourth and King Street. The savvy cyclists at Streetsblog reported cops around the Caltrain station were issuing tickets for bikers riding on the sidewalk last week, but ignoring the fleet of taxicabs illegally parked in bike lanes around the station. Naturally, the selective enforcement left riders with a bad taste in their water bottles. Injury was added to insult today as Caltrain riders arrived at the station to find a fleet of Oracle-sponsored pedicabs hogging up sidewalk real estate around Fourth and Townsend. more ›

According to Bay City News, Caltrain service in both the Southbound and Northbound directions was halted just after 10 a.m. this morning after a train struck and killed a woman on the tracks near Broadway Station in Burlingame. The rider-updated Caltrain twitter feed reports that trains were moving again at slow speed just before 11 a.m, but those folks heading up the peninsula for today's 12:45 p.m Giants game should be advised that the system is still experiencing delays. more ›

Early this morning, a Caltrain killed a pedestrian in San Mateo. "Train No. 198 left San Francisco station at 12:01 a.m. and hit the pedestrian on the tracks about 100 yards north of 25th Avenue at around 1 a.m.," reports KTVU. Caltrain officials do not anticipate the death to cause any delays during the morning rush hour. more ›

During this morning's commute, a train pulling into the King and Fourth Street Caltrain station collided with the end of track stopper. The accident hurled many passengers to the floor. Multiple injuries have been reported. more ›

A 61-year-old man was found unresponsive on a northbound Caltrain yesterday afternoon, which was stopped at the Hillsdale station. A crew member called for medical assistance at about 2 p.m., and emergency personnel found the passenger dead when they arrived. more ›

The crucial 77-mile line that hauls an estimated 40,000 passengers during the weekdays could be in danger. Scratch that, it is in danger. A $30 million shortfall will ebb away at almost half the lines. Grim, yes? What's more, it will do away with weekend service altogether, effectively eliminating service to weekend SF Giants games. (If you live in Mission Bay/South Beach, you know that hordes or orange-and-black-bedazzled fans pour out of the station on the weekends. Losing that link to the Peninsula would be disastrous, traffic-wise, attendance-wise, and paying-$25-for-parking-during-a-game-wise.) more ›

Described as "an intentional act" by Caltrain authorities, an unidentified 19-year-old Palo Alto man was struck and killed this morning by a train in Palo Alto. Happening just after midnight, "the man was hit on the train tracks about four-tenths of a mile north of the California Avenue station at a location where there is no vehicle or pedestrian crossing." more ›

Graffiti and invisible trains, Everydaydude captures our own version of Ghostbusters II. more ›

SFist reader John Murphy sends us this photos, followed by this heated caption, "Caltrain fucked in Menlo NB due to [ahem, driver] who turned his car onto track." more ›

Our favorite crime reporter, Mike Aldax over at the Examiner, brings us news today of the case against Pacifica resident Antonio Santiago III, age 26, whom authorities accused of making a bomb threat call to Caltrain last year. The cop who traced the call got one digit of the phone number wrong, erroneously leading investigators to Santiago's cell phone. more ›

After a series of breakdowns, SFGate reports that Caltrian is experiencing delays of up to an hour this morning. "The latest problem happened at 7:50 a.m. when southbound train No. 314 broke down at the San Mateo station, SFGate reports. "All the passengers had to get off, and for the next 40 minutes trains were single-tracked on the northbound track through Burlingame and San Carlos." Sluggish times are expected to last throughout the morning. more ›

Marking the fifth Caltrain fatality this year, a man hit and killed near the San Antonio station in Mountain View yesterday. The crash happened at around 5:10 p.m., snarling the evening's commute. No passengers were injured. [via CBS 5] more ›

Twitter is aflame over afternoon Caltrain delays. One theory? A bomb threat was called in, stopping service. According to rider-reported @Caltrain, "Supposedly the delays are due to investigation on a reported bomb threat. Hopefully, Caltrain will issue statement soon." And @mchow1973 writes, "#Caltrain received a call this afternoon that a northbound train might be carrying an explosive device. That train is now stopped at SSF." more ›

Has another train line anywhere else in the country been so frequently homicidal as our little Peninsula-bound rail? more ›

A pedestrian was hit by a Caltrain in South San Francisco this morning. "The incident was reported at 9:39 a.m. just north of the South San Francisco Caltrain station." No further details are available. We'll update as soon as we know more. [ABC 7] more ›

After four students at Gunn High School committed suicide "at or near the same Caltrain crossing in Palo Alto," a group of area parents have asked Caltrain to reduce the speed of trains to a staggeringly slow 5 miles per hour. more ›

According to SFist Jonathan, "My train is stopped in Burlingame @ 6:20 pm -- the conductor says the train is being held here due to a bomb threat at Millbrae." more ›

According to the following Twitter message it did, Just this afternoon. more ›

At about 4:50 p.m. yesterday in Redwood City, a southbound train collided with a Honda near Whipple Avenue and El Camino Real. KTVU reports, "the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the San Mateo County coroner's office." The train was traveling "approximately 60 mph," so it couldn't stop. The name of the driver has yet to be revealed. No word as to whether or not it was a suicide hit. more ›

After three students from Gunn High School in Palo Alto committed suicide this year by lying down for their final nap at the East Meadow Drive crossing, Caltrain plans to hold a press conference today. With the most recent suicide occurring last week -- a 13-year-old girl killed herself a little before 11 p.m. on Friday night -- former Palo Alto Mayor Victor Ojakian, who lost his son to suicide, spoke out about the tragedies. "To make sure that individuals who are in a state of maybe despair or hopelessness know there are other options other than taking their lives," he said. "To look at not just what is happening on Caltrain or with this particular incident that involves another Gunn student but to look at the County overall and try and do something about suicide prevention." The Santa Clara County Mental Health Director also announced a new "suicide task force" to help curb the problem. more ›

Following on the heels of this week's Caltrain suicides, "a pedestrian was struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Berkeley Thursday morning, the third person to be struck by a train in the Bay Area in a 24-hour period.," according to CBS 5. Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said that the unidentified male intentionally jumped out in front of the southbound train heading to Oakland near the Grayson Street crossing. On Wednesday night, just a few hours prior to the Amtrak death, a man hurled himself "into the side of a moving Caltrain at the Menlo Park station." He is expected to live. The Amtrak victim, however, died at the scene. more ›

Proving that this newfangled locomotive technology will do society more harm than good, Catrain confirmed this morning that a woman was struck and killed by a train at a Palo Alto railroad crossing yesterday. According to reports, "[a] northbound train struck the victim who had apparently made her way on to the tracks near a crossing at East Meadow Drive at around 9:55 p.m." This makes the fourth train-related fatality of 2009. more ›

Caltrain has claimed the life of another pedestrian in two weeks. This morning, a man was struck at the San Mateo station. According to reports, "he collision happened at 6:43 a.m. when southbound train No. 206 struck the man who Caltrain characterized as a trespasser on the tracks near 25th Avenue." It is not yet know whether or not this most recent fatality was an accident or suicide. Northbound and southbound trains are operating at normal speed, but you can "expect delays of 45-60 minutes" today. If you recall, a man and a woman, in separate incidents, sat down on the tracks at the San Antonio station earlier this month. more ›

A day after a woman sat down on the tracks near the San Antonio station for a final nap, a second person died at the unforgiving hands of Caltrain. A male pedestrian, according to reports, was hit and killed by a northbound train in Palo Alto early this morning. Happening at around 8:30 a.m. near East Meadow Drive, the unidentified man was killed while the gates, lights and bells were reportedly going at the time of the crash. This most recent death makes Caltrain's second fatality of 2009.
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According to ActionNewsSF, "Caltrain service stopped in both directions due to a fatal accident where a train struck a trespasser at San Antonio Station in Mt View." After calling Caltrain to find out more, they could only confirm that, yes, there was a fatal accident at the San Antonio Station. Eeech. Sounds gruesome. Anyway, you should expect delays this afternoon if you plan on riding the train. Please adjust your schedule accordingly. Update: The victim was an apparent suicide. According to SFGate, "The woman, whose name has not been released, sat down on the tracks less than a half-mile north of the San Antonio station about 11:30 a.m. and was hit by a southbound train." more ›

News is coming in that there was a fatality at Hayward Park this morning at around 7:30 a.m. According to CalTrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn an unidentified person was struck and killed by southbound train No. 210 just south of the Hayward Park. Caltrain also says that its trains are running about 30 minutes behind schedule due to the train-related death. more ›

Although trains are running slowly as of 2:30 p.m., CalTrain is expected to return to normal by this evening's commute. If you recall, all choo-choos came to a halt this morning after a "system-wide signal interruption." As an extended olive branch, CalTrain will offer riders free rides for the rest of the day. Rides will be on the house until 1:30 a.m. Friday. Also, Caltrain tickets can be honored on SamTrans buses and on VTA routes 22 and 522. (Can you imagine if Muni started being this kind to riders? They'd be in financial ruins in less that a week. Well, more than they already are, that is.) more ›