Fence Built at Tracks Where Girls Died

UPLAND — Construction crews Sunday erected a chain-link fence along an 800-foot stretch of Metrolink tracks where two preschoolers were killed by a commuter train after straying from their nearby home.

The deaths last week of Alexes Robles, 3, and Deziree Soto, 22 months, sparked protests that Metrolink has ignored dangers to residents who live near the tracks.

Metrolink officials contend it would be prohibitively expensive to install fencing along all 416 miles of the commuter rail network. Since its inception five years ago, there have been 41 fatalities, not including suicides, on the tracks.

Peter Hidalgo, an agency spokesman, said the six-foot-high fence installed Sunday will be replaced later this week by a more durable and aesthetically pleasing wire-mesh fence that will extend 1,500 feet along Avenue A between 10th and 11th Avenues in Upland.

He said the decision to put up the barrier was in response to the “mourning and grieving” of the children’s mother and neighbors and the urging of Upland Mayor Bob Nolan.

The toddlers’ mother, Jackie Robles, 21, was jailed for two days on suspicion of felony child endangerment but was freed after the San Bernardino County district attorney’s said more investigation was needed to determine whether criminal charges were warranted.

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* RELATED COLUMN: B1