UNDATED -- Two people died in the Bay Area within a nine-hour span Thursday after being struck by trains.

Union Pacific officials said a Newark woman died after she was struck by a freight train at 3:04 a.m. while walking on the tracks near Cedar Blvd. Authorities have identified her as 27-year-old Britta Aker.

The accident remained under investigation, but it had left the crew devastated. "This is a very tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the people involved, the person's family members," Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes said. "This is also tough for our crew. The crew is being replaced to receive peer support counseling."

A little more than eight hours later, authorities across the San Francisco Bay in San Mateo reported that an unidentified person was killed after being struck by a Caltrain commuter train.

According to Caltrain spokesman Jonah Weinberg, train 241 was traveling northbound when it struck a person at the 9th Avenue crossing at 11:40 a.m.

Transit police and San Mateo police were investigating the incident.

California had the second-highest number of deaths at highway-rail crossings in 2006, with 36, according to Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit rail safety organization based in Alexandria, Va. Texas led all states with 42 fatalities.