Pedestrian struck, injured by SMART train in Petaluma

A pedestrian walking his bicycle along the railroad tracks in north Petaluma was struck and injured by a SMART train Thursday morning, causing the cancellation of one train and the delay of others during the morning commute.

The 25-year-old man, homeless from Petaluma, was able to walk following the 5:35 a.m. collision, said SMART spokeswoman Julia Gonzalez.

He was admitted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and was expected to survive, Petaluma Police Sgt. Rick Cox.

The scene of the incident, near the underpass below Highway 101, is north of the Southpoint Boulevard crossing.

“This was quite a distance from a crossing,” Gonzalez said. “Why this person was on the rail line has not been determined.”

Petaluma police and SMART authorities were both investigating.

The man was walking south along the tracks near a trestle close to the Petaluma outlet mall, Cox said. The train blew its horn as it came around a small curve, but it couldn’t slow in time to avoid hitting the man.

It was traveling at about 35 mph. The man wasn’t wearing headphones, police said.

The collision involved the 5 a.m. train, the first southbound train, which carried 25 passengers, Gonzalez said.

“The train was delayed for a period,” she said. “Those passengers were taken to the Petaluma station, where they were met by the next southbound train and then continued on their journey.”

The crash forced the cancellation of that train’s return trip north. Trains returned to normal schedule within the hour.

Gonzalez said there is some fencing along tracks not at crossings, but it wasn’t clear if there was a fence where Thursday’s collision occurred.

There is ample signage alerting people to access points and safety hazards around tracks, she said.

The pedestrian collision was the first for SMART since November. Since the commuter train began service in August 2017, 12 people have died in train collisions, and three others have been injured including Thursday’s incident.

Some pedestrian fatalities on the tracks have been determined to be suicides. That was not the case in Thursday’s collision, Cox said.

“Any time an incident like this occurs we conduct a very extensive investigation to see if there was anything we could do to improve safety or to have prevented this,” Gonzalez said.

SMART’s investigation is separate from the Petaluma police’s.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.