First responders investigate at the scene of an accident involving a SMART train on Grant Avenue at Railroad Avenue in Novato on Thursday night. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

First responders investigate at the scene of an accident involving a SMART train on Grant Avenue at Railroad Avenue in Novato on Thursday night. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

First responders investigate at the scene of an accident involving a SMART train on Grant Avenue at Railroad Avenue in Novato on Thursday night. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)



First responders investigate at the scene of an accident involving a SMART train on Grant Avenue at Railroad Avenue in Novato on Thursday night. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

First responders investigate at the scene of an accident involving a SMART train on Grant Avenue at Railroad Avenue in Novato on Thursday night. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

Authorities investigate a pedestrian fatality on the SMART tracks in downtown Novato on Dec. 19, 2019. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)



A SMART train sits on tracks near Grant Avenue at Railroad Avenue in Novato after an accident on Thursday night. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)

A man was struck and killed by a SMART train in Novato Thursday night, the second Marin train fatality since the system began operation more than two years ago, police said.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office coroner’s division identified the victim as a 71-year-old Novato resident. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Novato police said investigators are working to determine if the man intentionally stepped in front of the train or if there was some other reason for the incident.

In an email, Capt. Jim Correa said “We continue (to) explore suicide as a possibility but nothing conclusive.”

The train was traveling about 45 mph around 7:50 p.m. when the train operator braked and sounded the horn after seeing the man standing on the tracks, but could not slow down quickly enough to avoid the collision at Grant Avenue and Railroad Avenue.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner was brought to the scene to remove the body.

A forensic post-mortem examination with toxicology testing has been completed. The cause and manner of death will be provided at the conclusion of the investigation by Novato police and the coroner’s office.

The train was carrying 12 passengers and three SMART staffers, and was northbound heading to Sonoma County Airport. Authorities interviewed the passengers, and they were provided bus transportation to their destination.

The train warning signals and safety equipment were functioning, police said.

Grant Avenue was shut down between Railroad and Reichert avenues for approximately two and a half hours during the investigation, police said.

The train was brought to a yard where investigators could check it for any damage or malfunctions.

Investigators planned to review videos from the train to help determine the cause of the collision.

No other information about the incident was immediately available, Correa said.

The SMART board voted unanimously in July to fund the construction of more pedestrian safety fencing at railroad crossings after five people were fatally struck by SMART trains in Sonoma County in a three-week period.

The idea of adding the barriers dates back to November 2018 after a man wearing headphones and looking down was struck and killed by a train in Rohnert Park. The death was ruled an accident. SMART staff has since assessed how to improve safety at the 43-mile rail system’s 62 road crossings.

Two of the five deaths, which occurred between June 27 and July 15, were attributed to pedestrians not taking heed of or not paying attention to warning lights and gate barriers. Three were suspected cases of suicide.

Suicide has been identified as the apparent cause in seven of the previous 10 deaths, including one in Novato in 2018, that have occurred on the rail system since it launched in August 2017.

The 2018 Novato death occurred when a woman crawling on the tracks near Novato was struck by southbound train approaching its next stop at the Hamilton Station.