WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration has issued to Congress the first National Strategy to Prevent Trespassing on Railroad Property. The report examines the causal factors that contribute to trespassing incidents on railroad proper...
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/02/20-fra-issues-national-trespass-prevention-strategy
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
"Conducting community site visits will help FRA to learn more about the specific local circumstances that contribute to trespassing and work with partners to help implement and evaluate targeted mitigation strategies. Requesting and providing funding will support community-based efforts to deter trespassing. Finally, building strong and enduring partnerships with communities, law enforcement, railroads, and other organizations with a shared interest in saving lives will enable FRA to leverage and concentrate available resources, expertise, and local knowledge to combat trespassing ... Short term targets for success include stakeholder engagement and implementation of strategies that save lives at trespassing “hot spots.”
Reading between the lines: More railfan harrassment. Perhaps lots more.
More talk, more consultants. No action, because there is not really anything that can be done, except perhaps build some walls.
Thoughts and prayers!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Suicide by train notwithstanding, and also not factoring in trespassing in the commission of a crime (grafitti, theft), the chief reason for trespassing is likely because it's the shortest distance between two points.
It's often a little more "private" than using surface streets.
Case in point - in the old hometown, kids often used the tracks to reach a favorite swimming hole. It was accessible by other routes, but walking the rails carried a hint of danger/adventure. I wasn't one of them, BTW. Never swam at that spot.
One way to solve problems is by engineering - in the case of shortcuts, find other routes. Odds are, though, that even if you built a bridge or tunnel for crossing the tracks at that point, it would take some prodigious fencing to get them to use either. Even then, I'm sure that some would rather cut a hole in the fence...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Now the victims will claim the railroad didn't follow the FRA recommendations. The lawyers will claim the rairload didn't do enough to prevent injury (as in the film crew debacle). The lawyers will laugh all the way to the bank.
petitnjThe lawyers will laugh all the way to the bank.
Pessimism is alive and well. Lets hope that it saves some lives.
Herding people is worse than herding cats. There is no law on the books that say railroads have to fence people out, the laws stop at livestock. Put the onus on local government and landowners....The police will be more enthusiastic about trying to correct trespassing when their bosses are under the threat of lost funding.
mudchickenHerding people is worse than herding cats. There is no law on the books that say railroads have to fence people out, the laws stop at livestock.
I saw on the local news an item about automobiles equipped with an assisted stopping feature to cut down on the number of pedistrian deaths. I expect someone will eventually say that locomotives should also be so equipped. Especially by some lawyer in a court room trying to say the railroad was negligent for not having it.
Jeff
zardozWhich is ironic, because as in the case of railroad trespassing, livestock isn't too much smarter than humans.
Well, from what I have seen, humans aren’t setting the bar very high.
With this PSR push, and delivering cars at all cost, I think there's a lot more important things the FRA should be keeping an eye on.
But that's just my opinion.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
jeffhergert I saw on the local news an item about automobiles equipped with an assisted stopping feature to cut down on the number of pedistrian deaths. I expect someone will eventually say that locomotives should also be so equipped. Especially by some lawyer in a court room trying to say the railroad was negligent for not having it. Jeff
zardozHopefully that will not happen until there is only C3PO in the cab. Then it will become a fun game for the kids: lets go stand on the tracks and make the train stop. What fun!
Never mind the kids - the thieves will have a field day. Stop a train in the middle of nowhere and steal what they want. They're doing that now, but by damaging brakelines, etc.
Is it a combination of very long freights and the faster passenger trains. We would like a comparsion of freight number of tresspasser incidents/ grade crossing incidents per total freight miles. Then compare that to the same metrics of passenger trains. It seems that the number of Amtrak incidents per train mile is much higher?
tree68 zardoz Hopefully that will not happen until there is only C3PO in the cab. Then it will become a fun game for the kids: lets go stand on the tracks and make the train stop. What fun! Never mind the kids - the thieves will have a field day. Stop a train in the middle of nowhere and steal what they want. They're doing that now, but by damaging brakelines, etc.
zardoz Hopefully that will not happen until there is only C3PO in the cab. Then it will become a fun game for the kids: lets go stand on the tracks and make the train stop. What fun!
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