Railroad Crossings
Published: 2/11/2004
About every 90 minutes there is a collision between a vehicle and a train in the United States. Many of these accidents occur at points where the railroad tracks cross a highway at grade. You are 30 times more likely to die in a collision involving a vehicle and a train than an accident involving two vehicles.
According to the federal Department of Transportation, there were over 52,000 collisions at highway-rail crossings from 1990 to 2001. In 1994 and 1995, collisions at highway-rail crossings resulted in almost 5,000 people killed or seriously injured.
An accident at a highway - rail crossing can also lead to a derailment. If a freight train is involved, there is a possibility that hazardous material being transported by the train could become involved and endanger an entire community.
The critical problem with highway - rail crossings is obvious. Typically, you are dealing with trains that have enormous weight and are travelling anywhere from 30 to 60 miles per hour. A 150-car freight train traveling 50 miles per hour will take 1.5 miles to stop.
Recently, issues about highway - rail crossings have been in the news. Last week, Jack and Jean O'Connor were killed when a train at the South Winton Road crossing in Henrietta hit them. The cause of the accident was a malfunction of the warning signal and/or gates.
That very same night there was a failure of the gates at the Monroe Avenue rail crossing here in Pittsford. It is my understanding that the gates were stuck in the down position for quite a while. The very next day there was also a failure of the warning signal and/or gates in the Town of Gates. Also last week, a train derailed on the Buffalo Road overpass near Route 390 in Gates.
On Sunday morning, we once again had a failure of the warning gates at the Monroe Avenue crossing. At first the gates did not come down. Later they came down but would not go back up. Then they proceeded to go up and down on a very frequent interval. Mind you that this was occurring while additional trains had been detoured to the West Shore line due to the derailment on the Main Line.
The problem Sunday morning went on for several hours. Not only does this type of problem cause potential problems with the railroad crossing, it also causes a major traffic issue in our Village. Traffic was backed up across the Four Corners and well up Monroe Avenue toward the plaza. This also requires the commitment of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office that provided the necessary travel over the railroad crossing since the safety equipment was unreliable.
This is not a new situation on Monroe Avenue and I am sure that the same is true on highway - rail crossings throughout Monroe County. The warning signals and/or gates can be very unreliable and unpredictable. It often results in vehicles driving through the rail crossing after they sit for some time with lights or gates active but no train in sight.
A spokesman for CSX, whose headquarters are located in Virginia, has indicated that the problem is a result of the cold temperatures or salt. An extremely weak defense. This is upstate New York where it does get cold and we do use salt. To say that we run the risk of failure of important warning equipment from November to April is unacceptable.
Perhaps the equipment that is being used is not properly designed to withstand the range of weather and temperatures that we experience in Upstate New York. Perhaps the warning equipment is not being properly maintained. Given the danger that exists at highway - rail crossings, it is imperative that the warning equipment be sound and reliable.
By no means am I taking issue with the presence of the highway - rail crossing. I understand the important role that trains play in moving goods across our country. I have often been told that the length of trains and the amount of goods they are carrying are a good indicator of the strength of our economy.
Instead my issue is with the maintenance and upkeep of the railroad infrastructure, especially highway - rail crossing. The CSX Web site contains quite a bit of information about their values and principles. The CSX safety policy states, "We are committed to provide transportation services in a manner that will ensure the safety of our employees, our customers and the communities we serve." Some of their safety principles are: "all injuries and accidents are preventable" and "safety is a way of life and part of everything we do, both on and off the job."
They also talk about their corporate values including being a positive influence on communities and the environment and fixing the problem, not its symptoms. I believe it is time that the words and the action match up. It is time for CSX to demonstrate to all Monroe County residents that safety is of utmost importance.
To help ensure this, I will be contacting all Monroe County town supervisors and village mayors to learn about experiences with highway - rail crossings in their communities. I will then team with my peers to call for an independent investigation of highway - rail crossings throughout the County to assure they are built and maintained to the right standards. There can be no compromising in this important safety issue.
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