workers are located, with alerts and warnings if the wrong location is detected. This technology already exists.173
3.5 Trespassing Trespassing represents a small portion of the overall incidents, but accounts for 63 percent of the fatalities associated with railroads (see Figure 4). After a slow, two-decade decline in incidents, injuries, and fatalities, trespassing incident numbers have increased rapidly over the past 10 years, as shown in Figure 11. Trespassers enter railroad property for myriad reasons, including because it may be the most direct route to their destination on foot or to spray graffiti (a topic which is often unreported).
Figure 11: Trespasser Incidents, Injuries, and Deaths, All Railroads 1200
1000
800
600
--- Trespasser deaths, not at HRC
400
--- Trespasser injuries, not at HRC
200
--- Trespasser Incidents, not at HRC
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
0
Source: Eno analysis of FRA’s Office of Safety Analysis “1.12 – Ten Year Accident/Incident Overview” data portal
Examining trespassing injuries and fatalities by state shows significant variation between rates, shown in Table 4. Georgia has the highest rate of injuries and fatalities adjusted for population, and California, Colorado, Florida, and Oregon have high rates and troublesome trends (indicated in Table 4 in bold orange). Meanwhile, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington all have relatively low and declining rates (indicated in Table 4 in italicized green).
Safer Railroading
58
