Caltrain has installed a form of artificial intelligence technology at its Palo Alto station to help keep people and vehicles away from trains.
The system, called Railsentry, used a combination of laser sensing tech and two high-definition cameras to determine if people or objects are not where they are supposed to be.
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WATCH HERE"It uses AI to take camera and lidar footage, process it, and see if anything out of the ordinary is going on at the crossing," said Dan Lieberman, a Caltrain spokesperson. "If so, that’s reported to dispatch, so we can alert the trains or get transit police to deal with whatever the situation is.”
Lieberman said the system is already paying off.
"We’re getting reports on a daily basis, finding out that people are in areas they’re not supposed to be," he said.
The system provides operators with real-time information about what is exactly on the tracks, from dogs to backpacks to cars. Once an operator knows what's on the track, they react quickly to slow down the trains.
Caltrain specifically put the sensors at the Churchill Crossing because a tow truck had to be called more than 30 times to get a vehicle off the tracks between 2020 and April 2025.
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Last November, the agency added Railsenty to its Broadway Crossing in Burlingame, which has been called the most dangerous crossing in California.
The station plans to add the AI tech to its crossing on 16th Street in San Francisco later this year.
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