UPDATES: Person Struck & Killed By Caltrain in Palo Alto

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013

The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office has released the name of the man killed by a Caltrain loaded with 200 passengers during last Friday’s evening commute.

The victim was Jonathan Lazarus, 28, of Sunnyvale. He died of multiple injuries caused by the train hitting him.

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FINAL UPDATE:

The person killed was a male.

Caltrain released the following statement late Friday evening.

"The cause of death is under investigation and will be determined by the county coroner. No matter what the circumstances, any fatality is regrettable. Caltrain apologizes to its passengers for the significant delays caused by tonight’s fatality and thanks everyone for their patience and understanding as we deal with these tragedies." 

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UPDATES 9:45 P.M.:

Shortly, train 284 will be taken to the San Antonio station where the passengers will be able to board train 190. 

The train will then be taken out of service and moved to the San Jose maintenance facility. 

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UPDATES 9:22 P.M.:

The northbound track is now open for trains moving at reduced speed.

The first train through the area will be train No. 195. After that, southbound train No. 190 will proceed through the area and stop at the crossing to pick up the passengers on train No. 284.

The bus bridges have been canceled. 

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UPDATES 8:55 P.M.: 

Efforts are currently underway to open one track so that trains can travel through the area.

Northbound train No. 190 is stopped at Menlo Park.

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UPDATES 8:30 P.M.:

SamTrans will provide a bus bridge between the Palo Alto station and the California Avenue station. 

VTA will provide a bus bridge between the California Avenue station and the Menlo Park station. 

There is no service to the California Avenue station at this time.

Southbound train No. 288 will turn at the Palo Alto station and go north, making all local weekday stops.  Northbound train No. 193 will turn at the San Antonio station and go south, making all local weekday stops. 

All other trains are operating on time.

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About 7:30 p.m. southbound train No. 284 struck and killed a person on the train tracks at E. Meadow Drive in Palo Alto.

Emergency personnel are on scene.  

Approximately 200 passengers are on board the train. There were no injuries to anyone on the train, including passengers and crew.

There is no service to the California Avenue station at this time.

Southbound train No. 288 is stopped at the Menlo Park train station.  Northbound train No. 193 will hold at the San Antonio station.  

No other trains are impacted at this time.

This is the first fatality on the Caltrain tracks this year. The last fatality occurred on Dec. 14, 2012.

There were a total of 12 fatalities in 2012. Of these, eight were determined to be caused by suicide and four are still under investigation, said Caltrain spokesperson Christine Dunn.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.