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Caltrain Hits Bumper At San Francisco Station; 4 Hurt

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - Four Caltrain passengers were injured Wednesday morning when a train pulling into the San Francisco station hit a bumper at the end of the platform, a Caltrain spokeswoman said.

Caltrain No. 215 struck the bumper at about 8 a.m., Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said.

"The train was coming into the station and was going less than 5 miles per hour when it hit the bumper at the end of the platform," Talmadge said.

The four injured passengers are all women, San Francisco fire Lt.  Mindy Talmadge said. Two were taken to hospitals and the other two declined to be transported.

One passenger had a tooth knocked out, but neck pain was the main complaint, Talmadge said. None of the women's injuries were life-threatening.

The passengers who were hurt were standing up to exit the train when they were knocked down by the sudden stop, Talmadge said.

Steve Herskovitz, 53, was on train No. 215 Wednesday morning.  "The eager beavers stand up first to get off, and a number of them fell down," Herskovitz said.

He said people on the train shouted and few complained about hurt knees or bumping their heads. Most seemed slightly unnerved or scared, but no one appeared to be seriously injured, Herskovitz said.

"It was the train version of a fender-bender," Herskovitz said. He said he walked off the train and headed to work after the collision, as did most of the other passengers.

Herskovitz said he planned to take Caltrain back home to San Carlos later Wednesday without worry. 

The train that hit the platform this morning has been taken out of service until Caltrain determined the extent of damage to it, Dunn said.

There was no damage to the station, she said.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

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