(The following story by Kevin McKenzie appeared on the Memphis Commercial Appeal website on March 29, 2009.)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Collierville police can’t issue speeding tickets for trains, but the town’s mayor is asking Norfolk Southern Railway to watch its speedometers more closely.
A railroad spokesman said freight train speeds are watched, by satellite. And besides, the speed limits for the trains apply to railroad intersections with highways — not for the tracks in between.
In a March 20 letter to the railroad, Mayor Stan Joyner said that he and town staff saw trains “passing through town at speeds much higher than the 45 mph limit.”
At times, trains have been tracked traveling at 60 mph or more, he said.
Joyner urgently requested that the railroad take steps to ensure that the 20 or so trains passing through Collierville every 24 hours travel at the approved limit.
“It would be tragic for an accident involving a citizen or a hazardous incident to occur due to a train traveling in excess of the approved speed limit,” Joyner said.
The 45 mph limit was the old track speed for the train through Collierville. Last April, the railroad announced it was raising the limit to 50 mph.
On Friday, Susan Terpay, a spokeswoman for the railroad in Norfolk, Va., said that limit applies only to intersections with highways.
“The 50 mph speed limit refers to the speed at which the locomotives go through the railroad/highway intersection,” Terpay said via e-mail.
“It is possible that train speed could reach 60 mph as the train’s cars gain speed through the crossing.
“Railroad tracks are engineered to meet all safety requirements to operate at 60 mph, and track speed is determined by how track is maintained, according to Federal Railroad Administration regulations.”
Train speeds are monitored by satellite, Terpay said. An operations control center in Atlanta is alerted when a train exceeds the limit.
In addition, railroad officials said when raising the speed limit to 50 mph last April that auto traffic flow would be improved and crossing safety increased by the higher speed.
“Statistics show that more highway-rail grade crossing collisions occur at slower train speeds,” Norfolk Southern officials said then.
Informed of the railroad’s position, Joyner said he understands that tracks as well as major roads like Poplar are engineered to allow safe travel at higher speeds.
Still, that doesn’t make higher speeds safer than slower speeds if a train should unfortunately leave the tracks carrying cargo through the middle of Collierville, the mayor said.
“I wanted to go on record that I feel the speed at which they allow the trains to go through town is too fast,” Joyner said.