Published Saturday, September 20, 2008, by the San Mateo Daily Journal

Woman struck, killed by train in rush hour

By Dana Yates

A woman was struck and killed after walking in front of a train in
Burlingame Friday evening.

Authorities were called to the downtown Burlingame train station at
approximately 6 p.m. on reports of a woman down on the tracks. The
woman was struck near the grade crossing at North Lane by an express
train that was not scheduled to stop at the station.

"We're taking every precaution to figure out what happened," said
Sgt. Roger Copeland of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, which
patrols the Caltrain line.

"There are some witness statements that she went around the active
crossing arms," Copeland said.

The woman's identity was not available by press time Friday. However,
at least one woman on scene told police she was the woman's neighbor.
The woman said the dead woman was deaf and mute and that she was
trying to help her.

The woman was reportedly on Burlingame High School campus earlier in
the day with a piece of paper that stated she was a 1967 graduate of
the school. She was carrying with her items from Oregon. It's unclear
if she was living in Burlingame, was trying to return to Oregon or
was a transient.

Trains were stopped in either direction between the San Francisco and
Hayward Park stations. By approximately 7:30 p.m., the southbound
track was reopened for slow traffic. Part of the delay was because
the conductor had to be replaced because he was too distraught to
drive, an engineer on scene said.

The incident occurred just one hour before a Burlingame High School
football game was scheduled just one block from the Burlingame train
station.

The Burlingame train station was upgraded this year with wider
platforms and new crossing equipment.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@... or by
phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.