(The following story by Bill Shea was published in the January 24 online edition of the Fort Dodge Messenger News.)
FORT DODGE, Iowa — Union Pacific Railroad trains will be picking up speed through the Fort Dodge area next month, creating a new reason for people to be alert around the tracks.
The trains that now ease through Fort Dodge at 10 mph will gradually accelerate to 25 mph.
Those faster trains will be crossing busy Fifth Avenue South. However, trains will slow down to 10 mph to cross the High Bridge over the Des Moines River.
Outside Fort Dodge, trains will be traveling 49 mph on the tracks between Vincent and Moorland. Trains now travel 30 mph on those tracks.
The train speed will be increased 5 mph a week starting Feb. 4.
As the trains speed up, drivers and pedestrians will have to pay even more attention at railroad crossings, according to Randy Schuh, the Union Pacific safety coordinator for the Fort Dodge area.
“They need to look and listen,” he said. “If they look and listen, they’re going to live. It’s that simple.”
“There isn’t one collision with a train that can t be prevented,” Schuh said.
In Fort Dodge flashing lights at every crossing give drivers plenty of warning of an approaching train, he said.
When those lights are flashing, drivers are required to come to a complete stop prior to crossing the tracks, according to Fort Dodge Acting Police Chief Tom Francis. A $145 fine is the penalty for failing to stop, he said.
Francis urged drivers approaching railroad tracks to “use a lot of common sense and take the extra time. It’s worth it.”
Trying to race across the tracks before an oncoming train is a bad and often, fatal, move, Schuh added. He can cite lots of grim statistics on what happens when trains and cars collide. For instance, he said people are 40 times more likely to die in a collision with a train than in a collision with another car.
“There are no winners when somebody gets hit by a train,” Francis said.
Long, heavy trains can’t stop quickly if a vehicle or person gets on the tracks, according to Schuh. Faster trains take even longer to stop.
“It isn’t that we don’t want to stop,” he said. “We can’t stop. When you’ve got all that weight and force the laws of physics prevent you from stopping.”
Increasing train speed will have one benefit for motorists, he said. The faster trains will take less time to go through crossings, meaning traffic won t be stopped as long, he explained.
The increase has been considered since the Union Pacific acquired the local tracks when it took over the Chicago Northwestern Railroad in 1996, according to Schuh. Last October, the Union Pacific announced plans to ratchet up speeds due to increased train traffic. Some track improvements needed to handle faster trains have been completed since then.