More: Cross with caution: Lack of oversight creates safety risks at private railroad crossingsīNSF and Union Pacific, the two most prominent freight operators in Kansas, said the decision as to which crossing gets an active warning device is left up to state and local governments, but spokespeople for both companies said they will support those efforts. Once complete KDOT and local officials, as well as the railway that owns the tracks, will develop an agreement. Kansas, like all states, gets a set amount of federal funding each year to help implement safety measures at crossings.Ī running inventory of crossings across the state includes a calculation of how risky a particular location is, with a higher rank meaning it has priority to eventually be upgraded with lights or gates.Īfter an initial confirmation the inventory data is accurate, a team will conduct an on-site review of the crossing. Federal funding helps boost rail crossing safety - but funds are limited "There's lots of train traffic on these two tracks down here," he said. All the while the tracks have stayed busy with cars going to a major intermodal hub in Gardner. In fact, the crossing by his house has seen a three- or four-fold increase in the number of cars after another area road was shut down. Yet a crossing two streets over has gates, Tyson said, even though the traffic patterns on the two don't differ meaningfully. Crashes often occur at crossings without safety features "It is just a matter of luck that happened in Missouri and not in Kansas," said Chad Henton, a railway worker and assistant legislative director for the Kansas local of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers. The Missouri crash came after residents and local officials in rural Chariton County had attempted to notify state officials of the dangers the crossing posed.īut Tyson noted it could just have easily been an Osage County community where the accident occurred - a sentiment shared by many, who think Kansas could be the site of a similar tragedy. Related: At least 3 dead, 40 injured after Amtrak train derails after hitting dump truck in Missouri, authorities say The derailment of an Amtrak train in central Missouri last month after it collided with a dump truck, a crash that killed four people, has restarted conversations about railway safety nationally. But fewer than half of the 5,039 crossings in Kansas have an active warning device, such as flashing lights or automatic gates that descend when a train is approaching, KDOT data shows.Īnd some worry the growing length of freight trains poses its own safety hazards by tying up tracks, blocking travel and even making crossings deadly.
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