Crime & Safety

Update: Caltrain Hits Two Pedestrians in Silicon Valley

One person was killed, and the other was taken to a hospital.

Update, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 11:15 a.m.:

The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office has identified the man killed by Caltrain in Santa Clara Monday evening as Philip Scholz, 35, of Pleasanton.

The Coroner’s Office told Patch that a determination has not been made as to whether the death was accidental or a suicide.

A second person was hit along with Scholz. That person survived and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Information about that person’s identity and condition are not available.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The two victims were hit by the train at 5:30 p.m. just north of the Santa Clara train station. Ridership was light Monday evening because of the MLK holiday, but delays were still being reported at 8 p.m.


Update, 8 p.m.:
Santa Clara station has reopened. 

Some tracks have been cleared for full speed. 

Service is gradually returning to normal.
--Bea Karnes, Patch Editor

Update, 7:25 p.m.:

Southbound trains are now running to San Jose, skipping the Santa Clara station. Delays are significant.

The incident happened just north of the Santa Clara station.
--Bea Karnes, Patch Editor

Update, 6:40 p.m.:
Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is honoring Caltrain tickets. A bus bridge is in place.

Trains held at Diridon Station in San Jose are already running almost an hour behind schedule. Northbound trains have begun to roll again, but at a slower speed than normal. Trains will not stop at Santa Clara.

There were 70 people aboard the train the struck the pedestrians. There were no injuries on the train.

This is the first pedestrian fatality on Caltrain tracks in 2014. Last year, there were 13 fatalities, of which 7 were determined to be caused by suicide, 1 was accidental and the remainder are under investigation.
--Bea Karnes, Patch Editor

Original story:
One person was killed and another was injured when they were hit by a train at Santa Clara's Caltrain station Monday evening, a Caltrain spokeswoman said.

The northbound train hit the two pedestrians at about 5:30 p.m., Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said.

One of the pedestrians was killed while the other was taken to a hospital with injuries that Dunn did not reveal the extent of.

Trains headed south are turning around at the Sunnyvale station and making all stops between Sunnyvale and San Francisco, Dunn said.

Caltrain is working to set up a bus bridge between the Santa Clara, Lawrence and Sunnyvale stations, she said.

The service interruption is also affecting Amtrak and Altamont Corridor trains in the area.

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