Transit District Board Adopts September Rail Safety Month Proclamation

OCEANSIDE–The Board of Directors of the North County Transit District at their September 17 meeting, adopted a Proclamation reaffirming its commitment to safety and recognizing September 2015 as State of California Rail Safety Month.

According to Federal Railroad Administration statistics, someone is killed or injured on railroad tracks every three hours in the United States; rail safety education is one of the best defenses to preventing these needless injuries and fatalities and is a proactive step to help insure the safety of San Diego County residents and visitors. In an effort to reduce these tragedies, State Legislators passed a bill in 2009 that designated September as “Rail Safety Month.” Each year, passenger and freight rail operators team up to remind pedestrians and motorists to exercise caution when near tracks, to heed the warning signals when crossing railroad tracks, and to always “See Tracks, Think Train”.

The North County Transit District (NCTD) holds safety as its highest priority in the provision and operation of public transit services throughout its service area. NCTD takes every opportunity to incorporate the fundamental principles of safety in all of its operational plans, procedures, and processes. NCTD and its railroad service partners have also placed the highest priority on safety by improving at-grade crossings with features such as flashing warning devices, gates, raised center medians, striping, signing, and pavement markings, and the implementation of Positive Train Control in the near future.

“At NCTD, safety is our #1 priority every day of the year for all of our transit services,” said Matthew Tucker, NCTD Executive Director. “This month we will be making an extra effort to educate the public to become more alert and aware around rail lines and rail crossings.”

According to statistics kept by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Operation Lifesaver, Incorporated (OLI), the State of California has been identified as having the highest number of preventable railroad trespasser fatalities of all States in the nation. There were 275 tragic rail incidents recorded statewide in 2014. Of these, 97 resulted in injury and 128 ended in death. This is more than a 115% increase over the 128 rail related casualties in recorded in 2013.

Passenger and freight trains travel through North San Diego County on the San Diego and Escondido subdivisions on more than 80 miles of rail track; and the Coaster, Sprinter, Amtrak, BNSF Railway, Pacific Sun, and Metrolink, operate on Railroad track owned and operated by the North County Transit District. California has more than 10,000 highway-rail grade crossings located within 52 counties and more than 400 cities in California. NCTD has 59 grade crossings on the Sprinter line and 35 grade crossings on the Coaster rail line.

This month NCTD staff will be attending community and business organization meetings throughout its service area to increase the awareness of the unique hazards associated with trains and railroad tracks and the need for railroad safety education for all.

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Transit District Board Adopts September Rail Safety Month Proclamation

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