ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - As the summer season rolls in, the Alaska Railroad Corporation warns that more trains will be en route. During summer, the railroad goes from 25 train starts a week to more than 100.
“In addition to our passenger scheduled gearing up we’ve got more freight train activity as well,” Meghan Clemens, a spokesperson for Alaska Railroad, said. “So that’s significantly more traffic on the tracks.” railroad tracks
With the busy season here, Clemens says people should practice additional caution while approaching tracks. That includes staying 100 feet away from the center of the tracks, not trespassing on tracks, and looking both ways before crossing a train track.
“Trains can’t stop quickly. A freight train traveling at speed can take a full mile to come to a stop. And that’s a challenging thing,” Clemens said. “Even if the train crew can see a person on the tracks, their ability to stop that train is really limited.”
In the past six weeks, the Alaska Railroad has seen two pedestrians hit by trains, including, a fatal accident in May, when a woman was found lying on the railroad tracks in Wasilla. The railroad says a man in Anchorage was sent to the hospital earlier this month with life-threatening injuries after he was hit as well by a train.
“That is an uncommon frequency for this kind of incident for the Alaska Railroad,” Clemens said. “These are devastating incidents for everyone involved. And certainly, our thoughts are with the victims and their families and also for the train crews. And these are these are really tough situations. It’s nothing we take lightly. And again, it’s why we have such an emphasis on track safety.”
The Alaska Railroad has police and security patrolling the railroad tracks to ensure safety on the train tracks, including 5 special agents. Alaska’s News Source asked the railroad if there are cameras on the tracks to see if people or animals are on them, the railroad said it needs to confirm whether or not it has cameras currently set up.
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