Man, dog killed by Amtrak train in Pinole

PINOLE, CA

This is a popular park and unfortunately a popular place to cross the railroad tracks.

The sign hanging on the fence says no trespassing, but either people don't notice or don't seem to care.

In spite of the sign, there's a break in the fence and a clear path leading to a beach. But the walk across the train track has been deadly -- twice in less than three months.

It's possible the man walking his lab along the tracks was hit by two trains, since a Sacramento-bound and Oakland-bound train were both passing through the area at the same time.

It's the same location where 17-year-old Marlene Aguirre was killed in February.

"We're really asking that no one goes down there and officials do something to block off that area to prevent people from going there anymore," Aguirre's sister Rosa Chavarria said.

Her family demanded a barrier be erected, but that hasn't happened. Union Pacific owns the tracks, but officials say they don't know who owns the fence.

County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema says railroad companies need to do more.

"What they're going to have to do is take a look all the way up and down up and indentify the dangerous areas, and do what you can do physically to perhaps call peoples' attention to that they're in a dangerous area," she said.

Fishermen say it's even more dangerous because the wind from the bay blocks out the sound of the moving trains, but it's a risk they're willing to take.

"We always look both directions left and right, because you can't hear the train. I think there should be some light down there," Andrew Zagote said

"I always look, the Amtrak is real quiet, they just sneak up on you before you know it," Robert Kneisco said.

According to Union Pacific, officers patrol the tracks 24 hours a day and they can cite people for trespassing. When asked how many people had been cited recently, the company responded none.

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