Concerns have been raised in Illinois that the accident which took the lives of 12 young people at Castelldefels Playa in Spain (qv story in the Europe section of this issue of LXinfo) when they crossed the railway at grade into the path of a second train could easily occur in the United States. In Spain, the availability of a pedestrian subway to cross the line appeared to be of secondary importance to getting where they wanted to be in the minimum of time.

Pedestrian fatalities on the Metra suburban rail system in the Chicago area are often associated with impulsive, impromptu behaviours to get across to catch a train or be the first out of the car park. When these behaviours are dominant it seems as if all thought of looking out for a second train disappear.

Simplistically, subways are often seen as bringing with them the hazards associated with dark and uninviting places where personal security may be at risk – or, at the least, where it is perceived to be at risk. Therefore there are always those who will resist using a grade separated route across the railway when there is – in their mind – a perfectly adequate at-grade route across the tracks whether at a formal level crossing.

More needs to be done to address the “I’ll miss the train” mind-set in the morning and the “I’m late, I should have been home for the kids ten minutes ago” type of issue associated the afternoon commute. This sense of urgency must be systematically targeted to generate a mind-set that the extra minutes using a grade separated route across the railway are worthwhile because, being there in the future is what matters to the kids, spouse and indeed one’s work colleagues.

To back up the education messages, there should also be meaningful enforcement activity with the financial penalties associated with improper use of formal level crossings and trespass via informally acceptable routes sufficient that repeat offending is rare.

These same issues, already recognised in Chicago-land need to be addressed in many other jurisdictional contexts across the United States and elsewhere. Second trains are a killer and rightly the focus of awareness campaigns in, for example, Canada. Equally important is research to develop and effectively communicate warnings of the approach of a second train. But, above all, there needs to be a lot more thought given to making grade-separated routes more attractive to those in a hurry and those with fears for their personal safety, particularly in subways.

With the massive investment in higher-speed rail services in the United States, some up-front thinking is needed to ensure the pedestrian safety issues are integral to project planning and design, particularly on routes where there are already suburban passenger train services and the second train may be running at 110 mph in the future rather than the 79 mph which is the case today. Pedestrians and trains don’t mix. Pedestrians and higher-speed trains are even less acceptable. The message is simple and must be integral to the development of higher-speed rail services. At the moment this isn’t always the case – it should be, no question!

(June 30th, 2010)