RAIL SAFETY AWARNESS

Now-a-days, the highway-rail crossings or on rail road property awareness are emerging in the public mindset in the form of rail safety. The damages to the property or the injuries to the human life due to the lack of rail safety are considered by rail transport management organizations, in high priority. The focus on manmade systems’ safety with respect to the human life and the reliable performance of the system towards effective and non-destructive utilizations on behalf of social welfare is being major key concept in any industries, factories, organizations. The concept of safety is considered and practiced in high measures in all necessary areas of life critical applications’, executions and operations.

6 Key Factors to know about Rail Safety:

1.      STAY ALERT

Trains can pass from either directions at any time and can be very quiet. Around train tracks or in stations, obey all warning signs and signals and use caution, when using headsets or cell phones.

1.      WATCH THE OVER HANG 

Trains are wider than the tracks, never stay on the edge of a station platform.

2.      STAND AWAY FROM PLATFORM EDGE 

Pay attention to painted or raised markings at the platform edge, and stay at least 3 feet from the train while it is coming in or out of the station.

3.      WHEN ON BOARD, HOLD ON

Hold on tight to poles or seats, and listen carefully to directions from the safety professionals inside the train or automated information voice delivery in and out of trains.

1.      WATCH YOUR STEP

Be careful getting on and off the train. There may be a gap between the train and platform or steps.

2.      DON’T TAKE SHORTCUTS WITH YOUR LIFE

Follow directional signs and markings that let you know where it is safe to cross the tracks. Crossing the tracks anywhere else is dangerous and illegal.

RAILROAD

CROSSING

SAFETY TIPS

 Many drivers pay little or no attention at highway-rail crossings they drive across day after day because they never see a train there. The following safety tips can help save a life. 

Trains do not run on set schedules. They can be on any track, at any time, going in either direction

When locomotive engineers see a vehicle or person on the tracks in the path of their train, they can only sound the warning horn and apply the emergency brakes. A train in emergency braking will stop, but not in time to avoid this collision. The average freight train consisting of 100 cars and weighing anywhere from 12 million to 20 million pounds takes over a mile to stop in emergency braking. There are brakes on every wheel, but it takes that long for all of those brakes to overcome the momentum of the tremendous weight pushing the train.

Always yield the right of way to the train. The train cannot yield to you.

More than half of all motor vehicle-train collisions occur at crossings equipped with the automatic signals. It's because some drivers choose to drive around the gates or through the flashing red lights because they thought they could beat the train, assume a stopped train has activated the signals, or the signals are malfunctioning.

Never ignore active warnings at crossings.

Locomotives are huge;17 feet high and 10 feet wide. As a result, they appear to be traveling much slower than we think when viewed from a slight angle at the crossing. The combination of the size and angle create this illusion. The parallel lines of the rails converging toward the horizon contribute to the illusion and fool our minds into thinking the train is farther away than it actually is. It is virtually impossible to accurately judge the speed of a train when these combinations of illusions are present.

Trains will arrive at a crossing faster than you anticipate.

One in four crashes occurring at highway-rail crossings takes place when drivers run into the side of the train. Often, it's because the driver is going too fast for conditions, such as darkness, rainy weather or fog. Many drivers "overdrive their headlights." This means driving too fast to be able to stop in the distance illuminated by your headlights. By the time you see the train at the crossing, it's too late to avoid the crash. In other instances, there may be high levels of noise in the vehicle causing the driver to be inattentive and not noticing the train's warning devices.

Look and listen when you see advance warning signs indicating a rail-highway crossing.

Drivers who pass vehicles when approaching a highway-rail crossing run the risk of a collision at the crossing. The vehicle being passed may obstruct a clear view of the tracks, or vehicle speed while passing may be too great to stop in time.

Don’t pass approaching railroad crossings.

Many drivers get trapped on the crossing, between other vehicles, and end up getting hit by a train or abandoning their car just in time to see it destroyed.

Before starting across the tracks, be sure there's room to get completely across.

Many crossings are on a surface higher than the roadway. Shifting gears with a manual transmission while going across this raised surface may cause the vehicle to stall on the tracks. If your vehicle is ever stalled or trapped on the tracks and a train is approaching, quickly get yourself and all other passengers out! Don't try to take any other items with you. When the train strikes the vehicle it will send flying metal and glass ahead of and outward from the locomotive. Many people have been seriously injured and even killed because they ran the wrong direction.

When running away from a vehicle stuck on tracks, run away from the tracks at an angle in the direction of the approaching train.

If a train is not approaching when a vehicle is stuck on the tracks, be sure to get yourself and all other passengers out of the vehicle and to a safe location. At crossings there are signs with a toll-free number to call the railroad directly and warn them of stalled vehicles or other problems at the crossing.

When crossing has more than one track, don't try to cross immediately after the end of the train passes -- there may be another train approaching on the second track.

Many crossing crashes have resulted because of impatience or inattentiveness at multiple-track crossings. You will always know how many tracks are at the crossing by observing a sign posed under the crossbuck. Directly below the crossbuck is a sign that indicates the number of tracks present if there are multiple tracks at the crossing. 

Stay off railroad property and stay safe.