Car lands on tracks — train kills driver

A 29-year-old man crashed his car through a fence early Tuesday in Redwood City and came to rest on Caltrain tracks, where a train immediately struck and killed him, transit agency officials said.

The driver of a blue Volkswagen sedan lost control about 1:20 a.m. near Buckingham and Westmoreland avenues. After plowing through the fence, the car landed on its side on the tracks, said Tasha Bartholomew, a Caltrain spokeswoman.

A maintenance train headed north toward San Francisco with no passengers aboard struck the car seconds after it landed on the tracks, Bartholomew said. The San Mateo County coroner’s office identified the driver as Redwood City resident Pierre-Alexandre MelotyKapella.

Meloty-Kapella graduated from Palo Alto High in 2005 and received a bachelor of arts degree in political economy in 2010 from Williams College in Massachusetts, according to his LinkedIn profile. The former legislative fellow in Congress recently formed a social media agency called PACMK.

“No matter what the circumstances, it is always regrettable when a life is lost,” Bartholomew said in a statement. “Caltrain reminds everyone to be safe around train tracks.”

The train was taken back to a maintenance yard in San Jose, she said. The incident blocked tracks in both directions for about four hours. Caltrain and the California Highway Patrol are investigating the crash.