Caltrain describes new fencing, AI camera systems and other safety measures on Palo Alto corridor

Caltrain officials told the Palo Alto City Council rail committee on Sept. 16 that recent safety work along the local portion of the corridor — including 9½-foot high-security fencing, new pavement markings and AI-equipped cameras — has already reduced dangerous behavior at crossings and will be extended to other sites.

“My name is Navi Dhaliwal. I'm Caltrain's government community affairs manager,” said Navi Dhaliwal, introducing the agency's update. Caltrain Chief Safety Officer Mike Meador described several elements of the program and their early results.

The agency completed 9½-foot security fencing west of the tracks from University Avenue station to Churchill Avenue and installed brighter solar markers, upgraded pavement markings and wider crosswalks with gates at Churchill. Meador said the agency has also tested an AI-enabled camera system described in the meeting as RailCentury that “geo fences areas” and sends real-time alerts when people or vehicles behave unexpectedly in the marked zones. “All of these things that we've done have had already made a significant, positive impact and and, reducing the number of vehicles. In fact, there's been 0 vehicles turning onto the track since we made these, these different, improvements,” Meador said.

Caltrain staff said the RailCentury system learned local patterns during a training period and can distinguish humans, bicycles and animals to reduce false alerts while notifying dispatch to stop trains or dispatch police in seconds if it detects danger. Meador also said Caltrain has worked with navigation apps to change routing prompts so drivers receive advance notice of upcoming rail crossings.

Committee members and Caltrain staff discussed the next steps. Meador and others said the anti-intrusion “panels” (described in the meeting as conical or vulcanized-rubber pyramids) are in procurement; manufacturers told staff the product life is about 20 years. The Valley Transportation Authority also expedited $950,000 in Measure B funding for Caltrain to add similar improvements at Palo Alto Avenue, East Meadow and Charleston crossings, VTA and Caltrain staff said. Caltrain staff said a notice to proceed had been issued for that funding at the time of the meeting.

Committee members praised the work and asked technical follow-ups about detection times and durability. Mike Meador explained that, for a pedestrian stepping off a marked walkway into the rail alignment, the system sends an alert in about two seconds and that the AI can be tuned to reduce false alarms. A council member asked whether the panels would be damaged by passing trains; staff answered that the pyramids sit adjacent to but not on the track so they are not directly struck by passing trains.

Caltrain also noted it is approaching the first-year anniversary of electric service on the corridor and said ridership is up significantly compared with the start of electrified operations: “we are approaching our 1 year anniversary of the electric trains,” a Caltrain staff member said, and later affirmed “we're still below pre COVID, but we're really moving up,” with ridership growth strongest outside traditional peak commute hours.

Why this matters: The committee's report shows a combined approach — physical barriers, pavement changes, detection systems and navigation warnings — is being deployed to address dangerous crossings in Palo Alto. The work is being coordinated with VTA and Palo Alto staff and includes near-term funding to install similar measures at additional local crossings.

City and county funding: Caltrain staff said the VTA Measure B allocation will pay for extensions of the pilot measures in Palo Alto; additional city procurement and permitting work remains before installations at Palo Alto Avenue, East Meadow and Charleston begin. Caltrain and city staff said they will continue to provide updates to the rail committee and the public as the projects move from procurement to installation.

Sources and attribution: Quotes and attributions in this story come from Caltrain Government and Community Affairs Manager Navi Dhaliwal and Caltrain Chief Safety Officer Mike Meador, as identified during the Sept. 16 rail committee meeting.