Western Railroad Discussion > Los Angeles - suicide by train

LOS ANGELES — Alarmed by an increase in suicides on its rail tracks, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is making a rare appeal for the public’s help.
Suicide by train is a touchy topic, with many transit agencies worried about copycats if they talk about it.
But on Monday, LA Metro began focusing on the issue, asking the public to extend help for people who might be contemplating killing themselves — before they make it onto the tracks.
Since the beginning of last year, seven people have thrown themselves in front of trains on the Blue Line, which traverses some of the county’s poorest areas on its 22-mile route between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach.

More…………….

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20130923/la-appeals-for-help-with-suicide-by-train-increase

What is interesting is that the Blue traverses the same "down and out neighborhoods" that it always has since the PE days. It has been plagued with suicides since it started up with over 100 fatalities. It is a sign of the times that so many people living along the Blue line live in "marginal" situations. When people feel hopeless--all they have to do is walk out to the tracks and let the train do the rest. I was told by a Blue line supervisor that he had a motorman kill a pedestrian--took time of for counseling--came back to service and immediately killed another pedestrian. He asked to be returned to bus duty!

South-Central LA wasn't always this poor. But the area never seemed to recover from the Watts riots in 1965 and the King riots in 1992 didn't help matters either.

Some pundits have cited the end of (former) PE rail service by the transit district in 1960 and another force decreasing the vitality of the Watts area.

That's an excellent point, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. When an area goes into decline city government is less willing to invest in the area because they get less return on investment. Unfortunately the lack of investment leads to further decline and on and on. City bus transportation has always had a stigma attached to it that light rail doesn't, when the PE went away the only choices left were cars or the bus. When a middle class person can afford a car it's also likely they can afford to move to the suburbs leaving only lower income people to remain in the area which again accelerates the cycle. This is one of the reasons that LA and Hollywood have been renovating and building new condos in the downtown area. If you move people closer to the jobs then transportation is less of an issue and it moves middle and upper middle class back from the suburbs increasing your tax base.

Caltrain (San Francisco to San Jose and Gilroy) has signs with a "1-800" phone number for a Suicide Prevention Hot Line posted at frequent intervals along the route; they are interspersed with "No Trespassing" signs.

DNRY122 Wrote:
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> Caltrain (San Francisco to San Jose and Gilroy)
> has signs with a "1-800" phone number for a
> Suicide Prevention Hot Line posted at frequent
> intervals along the route; they are interspersed
> with "No Trespassing" signs.


I haven't seen any recent stats, but as of a couple of years ago Amtrak police had determined that about 50 percent of the trespass fatalities along the Caltrain route were suicides.

The fact is that people often commit suicide because there are very serious legal consequences for family or friends that assist in completing the suicide. Rather that a dignified end, those folks have to resort to the undignified and humiliating act of "suicide by train". I wonder about the rate of "suicide by train" in CA or other states compared to OR or WA which have assisted suicide laws.

Most of the people who committ suicide are not those who would be eligible for assisted suicide or euthanasia. Rail suicides have the "benefit" of being quick, compared to drowning or internal injuries from a bridge jump (the other common way of deliberately shortening a life) and free compared to drugs and guns.

metroexpress Wrote:
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> Most of the people who committ suicide are not
> those who would be eligible for assisted suicide
> or euthanasia. Rail suicides have the "benefit" of
> being quick, compared to drowning or internal
> injuries from a bridge jump (the other common way
> of deliberately shortening a life) and free
> compared to drugs and guns.

Yes. However, assisted suicide is not euthanasia.