"Caltrain is refusing to report to the public when people are killed by trains on their tracks. They've imposed a news blackout on the deaths. They don't want any mention of suicides in the news out of fear it will result in copycats. They say that whenever a suicide is mentioned in print, the risk of another person taking their life increases, especially among teenagers."
"Just about every mid-Peninsula high school requires students to read Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." The two main characters in that play are both teenagers who kill themselves. Where are the anti-suicide safety netters? Why aren't they demanding our schools remove "Romeo and Juliet" from their classrooms and libraries? Better yet, why not round up all the copies of "Romeo and Juliet" and burn them in the driveway near Palo Alto High School's campanile tower? Yes, an old fashioned book burning."
"Caltrain's news blackout isn't based on concern for human life. It's about changing the subject of a political conversation. Caltrain doesn't want to pay for bridges to separate streets from the tracks, called grade separations. Yet every time a youth is killed by a Caltrain, people ask why hasn't the rail agency found any money for rail separations. Remember, this was an agency that was able to find $2.44 billion to switch from diesel to mostly electric locomotives."
A news blackout hides reports of people killed on Caltrain tracks and aims to avoid perceived suicide contagion. The blackout shifts focus away from demands for grade separations, which would require funding for bridges to separate streets from tracks. Caltrain allocated $2.44 billion to electrification, indicating different budget priorities. The situation is contrasted with continued classroom use of Romeo and Juliet, whose protagonists are teenage suicides. The blackout began during a period when San Mateo County sheriff Christina Corpus refused to speak to reporters.
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