Caltrain Station Banners Raise Rail Safety Message

Caltrain is taking the rail safety message to passengers, pedestrians and drivers with a high-visibility banner program along the rail corridor.

More than 100 red and white banners are being installed at 14 Caltrain stations from Gilroy to San Bruno urging people to "Cross Tracks Safely" and to remember that "Tracks Are for Trains."

Begun last spring as a pilot program at three stations, the banners will be in place at 11 other stations by mid-September, serving as an attention-getting reminder to obey the law and use caution around railroad tracks.

The expansion of the banner program comes as Caltrain joined this week in the launch of California Railroad Safety Week (Sept. 8-14), a statewide effort to highlight the alarming problem of motorist and pedestrian fatalities and incidents along the tracks and at highway-rail crossings in California.

Caltrain board member Art Lloyd, who is board chair of the rail safety organization California Operation Lifesaver, spoke at a news conference Tuesday in Sacramento that was one of several events around the state this week to herald Railroad Safety Week.

"Caltrain is happy to be involved in anything that promotes rail safety," Lloyd said, especially involving trespassing incidents on the Peninsula, since grade crossing incidents have not been as frequent.

Lloyd hopes that people will "see the banners and take in the message."

With the banner hardware in place, Caltrain will be able to change out the banners with other safety, operational or marketing messages.

The program is part of Caltrain's ongoing campaign to educate the public about the need to use caution around railroad tracks and trains and in particular to cross tracks only at designated railroad crossings when it is safe and legal to do so.

As part of its rail safety education program, Caltrain staff does presentations to schools and community groups and participates in safety fairs. Caltrain has produced a rail safety video, which has aired extensively on cable television, and displayed rail safety messages on the sides of SamTrans buses.