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Rail Crossings Where Train and Tragedy Are Likely to Intersect


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 13 February 2015 - 11:51 AM

The New York Times, 2/12:
 

At Rail Crossings in New York Area, Where Train and Tragedy Are Likely to Intersect

 

The former police chief in Elmwood Park, N.J., vividly remembers the moment 30 years ago when the gates at the railroad crossing on the edge of town lowered on the bus carrying his son and his classmates on a field trip.

 

Suddenly, they were trapped on the tracks, with a train bearing down.

 

“The fathers got out and started trying to push the rails off the bus so it could move,” the former chief, Don Ingrasselino, recalled. “We were all shouting at the bus driver to move, move. She was finally able to get out of there, but I still think about how many kids could have died that day.”

 

Through the decades, Mr. Ingrasselino would respond as a police officer and chief to a number of tragedies at the crossing, where Midland Avenue intersects with New Jersey Transit tracks at a sharp angle through his Bergen County town.

 

“It’s not even an accident waiting to happen,” said Mr. Ingrasselino, who retired in 2012. “It’s an accident that’s been happening, over and over. It’s ridiculous.”

 

The grade crossing is, as it turns out, among the most dangerous in the country, according to a little-known metric devised by the Federal Railroad Administration called the “accident prediction value.” The measure takes into account certain physical characteristics of crossings and recent accidents.

 

The Midland crossing has been the site of 29 accidents since 1975, according to the railroad agency’s data. Two people have been killed and six more injured.

 

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#2 CNJRoss

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Posted 15 February 2015 - 02:40 PM

WPIX-TV, New York, NY, 2/13:
 

Close calls caught on camera at riskiest railroad crossing in NYC metro area

 

ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. (PIX11) — Five cars became trapped on the inside of a railroad crossing as a NJ Transit passenger train was coming down the tracks in Bergen County Friday. It happened at the Midland Avenue railroad crossing in Elmwood Park.

 

First there was a false alarm. A woman driving a van had passed the striped crossing gate when the warning bells sounded, lights flashed, and the gate closed behind her vehicle. The train tracks were in front of her. She tried to make a K-turn to exit the railroad crossing. But before she finished, the arms blocking her vehicle lifted. No trains came. She shouted out the window of her van: “Why did that go down?”

 

Cars coming from the opposite direction began to move onto the tracks, but she was blocking the flow of traffic. Then, the warning bells sounded again. The gates closed. Now, a total of 5 cars were trapped inside the gates.

 

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#3 CNJRoss

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Posted 15 February 2015 - 02:43 PM

AP via New Haven (CT) Register, 2/15:

 
Blumenthal, Schumer propose more funding for railroad grade-crossing safety

Two U.S. senators are calling for an increase in federal funds to lessen the dangers of railroad grade crossings.

 

Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut say they will introduce a bill that would upgrade safety at accident-prone crossings.

 

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#4 CNJRoss

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Posted 15 February 2015 - 02:46 PM

AP via The Journal News, White Plains, NY, 2/15:

 
Senators propose more funding for grade-crossing safety
Funds would go to the Federal Railroad Administration and to states and localities for new lights and signals
 
B9316259987Z.1_20150215135254_000_GJ99V8

(Photo: AP)

 

NEW YORK (AP) – The government should spend more money safeguarding railroad crossings that are "accidents waiting to happen," two U.S. senators said Sunday.

 

Sens. Charles Schumer and Richard Blumenthal spoke at Grand Central Terminal, the departing point for the Metro-North train that crashed into a sport-utility vehicle earlier this month in Valhalla. The SUV's driver died, as did five train passengers.

 

Although the cause of the collision has not been determined, the lawmakers noted that more than 200 people died in grade-crossing accidents in 2013. They plan to introduce a bill later this month to fund engineering and safety upgrades at thousands of rail crossings across the country.

 

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#5 CNJRoss

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Posted 28 February 2015 - 09:51 PM

The New York Times "Letters to the Editor," 2/23:

 

Rail Crossings: Ideas for Greater Safety

 

23LETTERS-master180.jpg
 
Credit Roman Muradov
 

To the Editor:

Where Trains and Tragedy Often Intersect” (front page, Feb. 13) focuses on the engineering aspect of safety at highway rail grade crossings, but education is also a critical factor in preventing collisions between vehicles (or pedestrians) and trains.

 

At Operation Lifesaver, our mission is raising awareness among today’s distracted motorists and pedestrians about the dangers present at all highway-rail intersections and along train tracks.

 

The goal of our national “See Tracks? Think Train!” campaign is to make caution an automatic habit every time you approach a railroad crossing — much like the habit of fastening your seatbelt every time you get into a vehicle.

Together, we can make a difference — and save lives.

 

JOYCE ROSE

President, Operation Lifesaver

Alexandria, Va.

 

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