JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With summer activities in full swing, CSX Transportation (CSXT) asks you to stay safe and stay off railroad tracks. That means to enjoy activities such as picnics and fireworks somewhere other than railroad tracks and property, where hundreds of people are killed or injured nationwide each year.
“Trains do not take holidays,” said Cliff Stayton, CSXT director of Public Safety Awareness. “In fact, CSXT trains will be running on July 4. For safety’s sake, residents should stay away from all railroad property. Always expect a train.”
Consider the following facts about the dangers of trespassing on railroad property:
Train tracks are private property. Walking or riding on any railroad right of way or other railroad property without the permission of the railroad is trespassing and illegal. Violators will be prosecuted, and they risk the possibility of serious, even fatal, injury.
Trains do not operate on a predictable schedule, and they can move in either direction at any time. Always expect a train!
Trestles are not built to be sidewalks or pedestrian bridges. Bridges and tunnels only have room for trains to pass. Trespassing on railroad bridges and in tunnels increases the chances of serious injury or death.
Highway-rail intersections should only be crossed at designated pedestrian or roadway crossing locations. Look for a second train moving from either direction.
Locomotives weigh approximately 200 tons. Trains with 100 railcars can weigh more than 6,000 tons. An automobile being hit by a train is proportional to a soda can being hit by a car.
Trains cannot stop quickly! A freight train traveling at 55 miles per hour needs more than a mile to stop. That’s equal to 18 football fields.
Trains can overhang the tracks by three feet on each side. Straps or other tie downs may extend even farther. Standing next to the tracks is dangerous.
CSXT has posted at every rail crossing a toll free number — 1-800-232-0144 — that citizens should use to call the company’s Public Safety Coordination Center to report an unsafe act or accident on CSXT railroad property.
— PRNewswire-FirstCall
