(The following story by Ron Maloney appeared on The Gazette-Enterprise website on October 10.)
SEGUIN, Texas — Nationwide, accidents at railroad crossings and along railroad tracks are down.
Texas, for the first half of this year, led all other states in reduced train-related accidents, down 49 from the same period in 2006, a year when more than 500 people died while trespassing on railroad tracks.
This year in Guadalupe County, Melissa Aguilar, 38, was killed the night of June 11, when she was overtaken by a train while crawling on her hands and knees between the tracks in Kingsbury in the dark.
Two weeks ago, Diana Reyes narrowly escaped injury, or death, when she drove around barricades, got her car hung up on railroad tracks, and bailed out seconds before it was demolished by a westbound Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad freight train hauling cement.
She got a good scare — and a ticket — but nothing more.
And a week later, Jose Martinez, who had reportedly passed out beside the tracks, narrowly escaped death when the wheels of a Union Pacific freight missed his head by what authorities say was about four inches.
He was cited for public intoxication and for interfering with railroad property, commonly called “trespassing,” according to Seguin Police Detective Lt. Mike Watts.
The railroads own the property their tracks run on and yards are built on, and city police, sheriff’s deputies and the Union Pacific’s own police department vigorously prosecute trespassers on railroad tracks to discourage the practice.
While some pedestrians view a long, straight section of tracks as the shortest route from one place to another, the practice of walking the tracks is a dangerous one.
“If we get a call on someone walking on the railroad tracks and find them in violation, they’ll be prosecuted because it’s a safety issue — both for the person and the crew of the train,” Watts said.
In addition to the risk of injury to the pedestrian, there is also the risk of damage to rails, switch, crossing or other safety equipment, should a pedestrian be bent on vandalism.
“If someone messes with the tracks and a train derails, it’s a bad scenario,” Watts said.
Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke said it’s the same out in the county — for the same reasons.
“If we catch them crossing while the arm’s down, it’s a violation, and we issue them a citation,” Zwicke said. “Sometimes we get calls on people riding on freight trains, and we work with the railroad police any time they have a criminal act on railroad property, from trespassing to theft.”
Zwicke said his office has long assisted the railroad in keeping folks off the tracks.
“We do it for the safety of the citizens,” Zwicke said.
The Union Pacific Railroad appreciates the help of local law enforcement, and vigorously protects its property rights.
“From our standpoint, that of a locomotive engineer or conductor, you’re looking at hurting somebody,” said Union Pacific Spokesman, Joe Arbona. “When you apply the emergency brakes, it takes us a long time, a mile to a mile and a half, to stop, and there’s a high potential for derailment. When you walk on the tracks, you’re not only putting yourself at risk, but you risk causing a derailment. It’s extremely dangerous, and most people don’t realize it’s trespassing.”
Railroad lines are especially dangerous to young children, Arbona said, and he urged school officials, parents and even the older siblings of young children to urge they stay off of railroad tracks.
“We can’t put fences along tracks, because they could trap a child,” Arbona said. “The best thing to do is just stay away.”
Dennis Jenson, UP assistant vice president and chief of police, Tuesday also urged pedestrians to stay off railroad tracks, even in remote rural areas. With the approach of hunting season, he said, it is important, also, to remember to avoid walking on the tracks.
“Last year, 517 people died while trespassing on the property of railroads throughout the United States,” Jenson said. “As hunters head outdoors this year, we want to remind them that walking on the railroad’s right of way is extremely dangerous because you never know when a train will come along. It is also against the law.”
Through August this year, 26,461 people have been caught trespassing on Union Pacific Railroad property. Trespassers on the railroad’s right of way are subject to arrest for violating trespassing laws and can face jail time and a fine.
Over the past two years, federal and railroad officials have waged a safety campaign that is said to be reducing accidents on railroad rights-of-way around the country.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration, railroad safety has improved a great deal over the first half of 2007.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced in a news release that the train accident rate decreased by 15.5 percent to 3.07 per million train miles during the first half of 2007. In all, 34 states experienced fewer derailments and collisions over the same period the year before — a total of 246 fewer accidents — and fatalities involving pedestrians and trains are down nearly 6 percent.
Highway crossing accidents involving motor vehicles and trains fell by 122 or 8.5 percent, and grade crossing fatalities decreased by 21, or 11.5 percent.
“We are making real progress when it comes to improving safety on the nation’s rail system,” Boardman said, adding that full-year data for 2006 showed it to be one of safest years on record. “To continue this success, railroads must step up their efforts to ensure trains, tracks and grade crossings are even safer.”
Whatever the railroads do, it’s important, railroad and local officials say, for drivers and pedestrians to do their part.
“Don’t walk on the railroad tracks,” Watts said. “It’s a dangerous habit.”