Underestimating a train can have deadly consequences. According to the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 798 fatalities involving motor vehicles atrailroad crossings from 2014 to 2018. Someone is struck at a highway rail grade crossing inthe U.S. every four hours. On July 11, a unique rail safety feature was tested in the downtown area of Lakeland,Florida. Originally requested as part of the 2014 Polk Rail Study, the Intelligent Rail BypassSystem alerts drivers of alternate available routes when a train is approaching a crossing. Itnotifies drivers at the same time as railroad crossing warning devices are activated, lightingup signs that point to alternate routes that avoid the train tracks. Right now, the primary purpose of the Intelligent Rail Bypass System is to reducecongestion and limit the number of drivers getting trapped behind passing trains. By givingdrivers the choice to wait for the train or take a detour, it could also come with the add...

July 19, 2019

Last year, almost 600 people died in the U.S. on railroad tracks. Forbes reported that a vehicle or person gets hit by a train every three hours across the nation, and Florida is amongst the most dangerous states. A whopping 462 railroad accidents were reported in the Sunshine State between 2014 and 2018, 16 percent of which were fatal and 25 percent resulting in injury.  According to a July 2018 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) report on national railroad pedestrian incidents between 2012 and 2014, railroad pedestrian incidents tend to peak in the summer and fall, with May, June, July and August consistently having amongst the most accidental incidents. Railroad suicide fatalities, on the other hand, peak in the spring and summer. The overlap between the two makes one thing clear: summer is a dangerous time of year for railroad accidents. According to the DOT’s report, the age group of 15 to 24 years old consistently accounted for at least one in five railroad p...

July 1, 2019

Tri-Rail, which was previously expected to begin train service in downtown Miami by the end of the calendar year, now faces a new roadblock that make its start date unclear: Tri-Rail lacks federal certification for its Positive Train Control (PTC) safety system. While Tri-Rail trains do have the mandated PTC system in place, a federal certification is required for it to be a tenant on the Florida East Coast Railway.  On top of that, Tri-Rail’s PTC system is not yet compatible with the system that the Florida East Coast Railway uses, so it will need to be adopted on Tri-Rail trains and installed alongside the tracks. What makes PTC systems so important for rail safety? PTC is a highly effective automated braking technology designed to monitor locomotive operations along 60,000 miles of track in the U.S. PTC helps prevent trains from derailing by automatically slowing or stopping them when the system detects a dangerous situation. PTC has been federally mandated by the F...

June 20, 2019

On June 3, a report published by the Miami-based company Injury Claim Coach revealed that Florida ranks sixth in the U.S. for number of railroad crossing accidents. The report was based off of four years of data released by the Federal Railroad Administration that detailed crossing accidents across the nation between 2014 and 2018. Over the span of four years, there were 462 reported accidents in Florida, with 25 percent resulting in injury and 16 percent resulting in death.   Researchers also identified the crossings and geographical areas with the most injuries and fatalities. One Jacksonville railroad crossing had 47 accidents alone. On the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), which runs from Miami to Jacksonville, Brightline passenger trains and FEC freight trains caused 76 fatalities in three years. Nationally, the number of railroad accidents is staggering: in 2017, Forbes reported that a person or vehicle is hit by a train approximately every three hours. Between 201...

June 11, 2019

On May 30, Virgin Trains USA announced that construction has officially begun on the controversial railroad between West Palm Beach and the Orlando International Airport. The five contractors for their Phase 2 expansion are Granite Construction Company, Hubbard Construction Company, HSR Contractors, The Middlesex Corporation, and Wharton-Smith Inc. Together, the group of contractors will develop 170 miles of a new rail line connecting Orlando to South Florida.   Phase 2 construction consists of four zones. Zone One and Two work began on May 30, 2019, and encompasses the Virgin Trains Maintenance Facility and area surrounding the Orlando International Airport. Zones Three and Four construction is expected to begin imminently, and will involve the full scale construction of the new line. This includes the transportation of 2.35 million tons of granite and limestone, laying of nearly half a million ties, and placing of two million spikes and bolts.  Zone One: Include...

June 11, 2019

Between May 12 and May 15, 2019, four pedestrians were struck and killed by trains in Florida. Sadly, these stories are far too common in the Sunshine State. In 2017, 76 people were killed in Florida by trains, with a majority of the deaths occurring in South Florida. SunRail, Brightline, and Tri-Rail trains have largely been the culprits of these tragedies. A number of factors can cause a train accident, including: Train derailments Human error Mechanical failure Unprotected railroad crossings Trespassing or trying to “beat the train” Suicide or suicide attempts Train companies have continuously refused to take responsibility for these deaths, instead blaming the pedestrians themselves for being on the tracks. By doing so, rail line executives are choosing to disregard their duty to keep the public safe from their trains. It is unacceptable for them to expect everyone, even vulnerable populations such as children, to fully understand just how fast trains app...

May 28, 2019

After a series of deadline extensions, South Florida’s railroad quiet zones will officially go into effect starting May 18, 2019. This comes after the installation of supplemental safety measures in over 300 railroad crossings that stretch from Miami to West Palm Beach. Originally, the safety measures were expected to be completed before Brightline began operations in early 2018. As the deadline approached, however, extensions led to new deadlines including the spring, summer, and December of 2018. The May 18 start date is long-awaited by Floridians who live near the crossings. Every day, 80 trains blast their horn four times at the railroad crossings along the line. Oakland Park homeowner Robert Figueroa is one of many locals that describe the train horns as unbearably loud: “I’ve had to purchase a white-noise machine to be able to sleep even with my windows closed. The trains blasting in the middle of the night have definitely impacted my sleep.” Steve Co...

May 3, 2019

This May, Virgin Trains USA will begin constructing a controversial high-speed passenger railroad spanning from South Florida to Orlando. This comes after the company closed its bond sale on April 19, which raised $1.75 billion for construction costs. Previously, Virgin Trains USA needed approval to sell the tax-exempt bonds from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Florida Development Finance Corp (FDFC). While they received FRA approval in 2018, the FDFC’s approval didn’t come until April 5, 2019. The line will be 170-miles long, upgrading and double-tracking existing railroads and constructing new tracks from West Palm Beach directly to the Orlando International Airport. This news has been met with some backlash by those who have safety concerns about the new tracks. With these concerns in mind, Florida’s Indian River County filed an appeal of a federal judge’s ruling regarding Virgin Trains USA’s bonds sales. The appeal brief claims that ...

April 26, 2019

On April 12, a Florida train accident resulted in tragedy when a Virgin Trains USA train struck a pedestrian in Pompano Beach, who then died near the tracks. This comes less than a month after another person was killed when a Virgin train struck their vehicle and dragged it for several blocks in North Miami.  Brightline began operations in Florida in early 2018 and was formally rebranded as Virgin Trains USA on April 4, 2019. Since then, Virgin Trains USA has been criticized for the numerous deaths that have resulted from individuals being hit by its trains. One of the distinguishing features that sets Virgin Trains apart from previously existing rail lines is its high-speed rail system: the Miami to West Palm Beach route has trains traveling up to 79 miles per hour, which is substantially faster than the slow freight trains many Floridians are used to seeing. Safety concerns prompted Florida lawmakers to call for a federal review of Virgin Trains’ safety protocols shor...

April 18, 2019

Previously, I blogged about the ongoing progress regarding the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems by U.S. freight and passenger rail lines. As a reminder, PTC is a highly effective technology designed to monitor locomotive operations along 60,000 miles of track and to help keep trains from derailing by automatically slowing or stopping a train when the system senses a potentially dangerous situation. The FRA mandated installation of PTC in America's trains in 2008, prompted in large part by a deadly accident that year in Chatsworth, California. A westbound Metrolink Ventura County Line Train collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train, killing 25 and injuring 135. That incident, along with an additional 15 freight trains and 10 passenger train accidents occurring between 2001 and 2008 and resulting in 34 deaths and 600 injuries all could have been prevented by PTC, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Slowly but surely, progress is being...

April 8, 2019