FREIGHT RAIL POLICY POSITION
The freight rail industry supports dedicated funding for the Section 130 program, which provides funds to eliminate hazards at highway-rail grade crossings. The program has been a huge success, helping prevent thousands of accidents and fatalities since its inception in 1987.
A highway-rail grade crossing is where a railway and roadway intersect at the same level; there are more than 200,000 grade crossings in the United States. Although railroads spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to maintain and upgrade grade crossings nationwide, it is the states — not railroads — that evaluate grade crossing risks and prioritize grade crossings for improvement.
Under the federal “Section 130” program, more than $230 million in federal funds are allocated annually for states to install new active warning devices, upgrade existing devices and improve grade crossing surfaces. Thanks in part to the Section 130 federal program, grade crossing collisions are down 39% since 2000.
Continued dedicated funding of this important program will help avert injuries and save lives at grade crossings. Section 130 funding also helps ensure grade crossings needs can compete with more traditional highway needs, such as highway construction and maintenance.
Safe driver and pedestrian behavior can prevent tragedies.
95% of rail-related deaths involve drivers going through grade crossings or a person on the tracks — and with safe driver and pedestrian behavior, most of these are preventable. Railroads collaborate every day with federal, state and local officials and the public to improve grade crossing safety and promote safe driver and pedestrian behavior.
These safety efforts include a deep partnership with Operation Lifesaver (OLI), a national non-profit organization that has helped keep drivers and pedestrians around railroad tracks since 1972. Together, the AAR and OLI launched the nationwide See Tracks? Think Train! public service campaign and collaborate annually on Rail Safety Week.
We all have a role to play in keeping people safe around railroad tracks, and the focus should remain on educating the public regarding safety at crossings, developing engineering solutions (such as closing unneeded crossings and upgrading warning devices) that prevent collisions and enforcing applicable traffic laws.
Listicle: 8 Train Safety Tips
1
Always expect a train.
Freight trains don’t travel at fixed times, and schedules for passenger trains often change. Always expect a train at each highway-rail intersection at any time.
2
All train tracks are private.
Never walk on tracks; it’s illegal to trespass and highly dangerous. Trains can’t stop quickly enough to avoid a collision. It takes the average freight train traveling at 55 mph more than a mile to stop.
3
Think of a soda can.
The average locomotive weighs about 400,000 pounds or 200 tons: it can weigh up to 6,000 tons. This makes the weight ratio of a car to a train proportional to that of a soda can to a car.
4
Trains have right of way.
Trains have the right of way 100% of the time over emergency vehicles, cars, the police and pedestrians.
5
A train can extend three feet or more beyond the steel rail.
The safety zone for pedestrians is well beyond the three-foot mark. If there are rails on the railroad ties, always assume the track is in use, even if there are weeds or the track looks unused.
6
Trains can move in either direction at any time.
Sometimes, a train’s cars are pushed by locomotives instead of pulled, which is especially true in commuter and light rail passenger service.
7
Stay alert.
Today’s modern, highly technological trains don’t produce that “clackety-clack” you see in old movies. Any approaching train is always closer and moving faster than you think. You could easily miss an oncoming train if you have headphones on or you are distracted by your phone.
8
Obey the signs.
Cross train tracks ONLY at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings, and obey all warning signs and signals posted there.