Norfolk Southern trains have regularly blocked crosswalks in a small Indiana town, leaving schoolchildren dangerously risking their lives by climbing under and over train cars that start moving without warning.
Lamira Samson, from Hammond, has struggled with the train problems for years and is often faced with the decision of whether to keep her son, Jeremiah Johnson, 8, home from school or help him climb the side of the Norfolk Southern train lane between the cars.
Hess Elementary School is only four blocks from the trail, but it’s often one of the hardest destinations to get to. Not wanting her son to miss photo day or any other day of class, the mother listened to the hum of the train’s engine. When she found none, she helped her son climb onto the train’s platform and squeeze between the carriages to the other side as fast as she could.
Samson and Johnson are not alone in this daily nuisance, as dozens of students have taken the dangerous step. Dressed in their Frozen and Space Jam backpacks and puffy winter coats, kids can often be seen squeezing through.
“I don’t want to be crushed,” said an unidentified eighth grade student ProPublic after she stood nervously watching the train for 10 minutes. The girl had seen many trains run without warning and she warned that she would be crushed.
A little girl in a bright red coat dangerously crawls under a Norfolk Southern train to get across the tracks to go to school in Hammond, Indiana – where trains are often stopped for hours, forcing residents to endure a difficult situation
A little boy climbs onto the train on his way to school. The superintendent of the city’s school district, as well as the mayor, have tried various tactics – including asking Norfolk for their schedule – to help alleviate the problem, but each time they meet with opposition.
However, Norfolk said it was concerned that children were choosing to dangerously crawl over and under trains to pass and would work to make alarm systems louder to warn residents when a train was about to move.
Prior to September 2018, a train in Indiana could not legally block a level crossing for more than 10 minutes. The Indiana Supreme Court struck down a 150-year-old law that allowed law enforcement to fine train companies for blocking railroad crossings. The court said the blocked image was pre-exempt by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995.
Now trains block intersections for hours or sometimes days, blocking anywhere from five to six intersections, leaving residents trapped with little choice but to choose a dangerous, potentially life-threatening path.
In a video posted online, a girl in a bright red giant was caught making her way under a train car in Hammond. Despite her bright outerwear, she was barely visible beneath the languid train carriage.
It took her more than 10 seconds to crawl safely across the railroad tracks.
Seventh-grade teacher Brandi Odom told ProPublica that her students are often late for school several times a week because of the trains and that her fellow teachers have to watch more than one class in the morning because staff can’t get around the tracks. can.
“I feel terrible about it,” Superintendent Scott E. Miller told ProPublica about the pressure students face to go to school.
Miller said he requested Norfolk Sothern’s train schedule so they could properly plan the school day around it, but the company — which was behind the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that poisoned the small town with toxic chemicals – refused to release it.
Lamira Samson (right) has struggled with the train problems for years and is often faced with the decision of whether to keep her son, Jeremiah Johnson, eight, (left) home from school or help him climb the Norfolk Southern train lane side between the cars
Hess Elementary School is only four blocks from the trail, but it’s often one of the hardest destinations to get to. Not wanting her son (pictured) to miss the photo day or any other day of class, the mother listened to the hum of the train’s engine. When she found none, she helped her son climb onto the train’s platform and squeeze between the carriages to the other side as fast as she could.
When Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. contacted the company, it said the railroads “got there first.”
“I’m nobody to them,” he told ProPublica. ‘They don’t pay attention to me. They don’t respect me. They don’t care about the town of Hammond. They just do what they want.’
However, when contacted by ProPublica, the fourth-largest U.S. railroad said it was concerned about children climbing on trains.
“It’s never safe for members of the public to try and cross the cars,” spokesman Connor Spielmaker told ProPublica. “We understand that a stationary train is frustrating, but trains can run at any time and with little warning – especially if you are far from the locomotive where the warning bell sounds when a train is departing.”
Industry experts said the outlet trains typically stop for hours as crews maximize their hours or switch tracks.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the video footage was “shocking” and said “more” needs to be done.
“No one can watch a video where a child has to climb over or under a train car to go to school and think everything is fine.”
Indiana State Representative Carolyn Jackson said it was “breathtaking.”
Before September 2018, trains couldn’t block crossings in Indiana for more than 10 minutes, but that has since changed, leaving residents and law enforcement powerless to stop the ongoing problem
The platform children have to cross to get to the other side of the track
“I hope they do something about it and we don’t have to wait for a parent to bury their child,” she told ProPublica.
Indiana is in the top five states with the most complaints about blocked railroad crossings. Texas leads the list, followed by Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee.
The Federal Railway Administration has documented more than 30,000 complaints – nearly 1,000 of them about trains blocking the level crossing for a day.
Norfolk Southern said trains often stop in Hammond because it’s a Chicago suburb — the nation’s busiest rail hub. It is also between two busy train interactions, which must remain open.
The company said it would look into whether or not it could make its alarm systems louder, warning pedestrians and drivers that the train is about to move from further away.
The Department of Transportation will announce a new program — costing $3 billion — this spring or summer to clear blocked crosswalks, according to ProPublica.
Several states – such as Virginia, Washington and Arizona – have proposed limiting train lengths, but all have failed to change the laws, as the major railroad companies said it would violate interstate commerce laws.