European Railroad Discussion > Question from the passenger board

Do these kinds of incidents (trespasser strikes) happen that often in other developed countries?
If so, have they had any success in finding solutions?

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4513554

I would have to say no, at least in part, in Europe, because rights of way are much more likely to be fenced and there are far fewer grade crossings that provide access.

Gordon

This is a very interesting question, but perhaps can only be answered by understanding some fundamental differences between continents in the relationship between railways and the surrounding landscapes.

In much of Europe (and certainly in England) railways often found themselves being constructed through already well developed landscapes, which although essentially rural were very well defined in terms of ownership, land use, and roads. In England railways often found themselves dividing up existing fields, with the requirement to provide "accommodation bridges" to enable farmers to move livestock across the line with little inconvenience, and indeed the lines themselves were often met with hostility because of their disruptive effect upon the status quo.

In contrast for much of North America and Australia and elsewhere railways were constructed through essentially virgin landscapes, where even land ownership had previously been indeterminate and with a total absence of major highways. They were seen as an important element in the opening up of hitherto untouched territories, and were generally warmly welcomed. Initially at least they were lightly constructed on account of the huge distances involved, and understandably little unnecessary expense would be incurred.

This difference explains the almost universal prevalence of lineside fencing in England, and the very few level crossings as opposed to the numerous under- and overbridges. My guess is this more than explains the variations in "trespasser deaths" between the two continents,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/18 23:29 by spflow.

Fencing is by no means universal in Europe, in Britain and Ireland it is, but that has more to do with the law relating to land ownership and the tort of trespass. Not only to prevent trespass on railway land, but trespass by the railway and it's agents on adjacent land.

In countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Latvia the railway is unfenced and there are plenty of grade crossings. I've no idea whether they have a significant problem with trespassers, there are certainly no sign of campaigns such as Operation Lifesaver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/18 00:11 by 86235.

I would add that here, in the UK, we get the occasional grade crossing incident but not too many. We do get bridge strikes, mainly of the kind where an overheight vehicle tries to go under a low bridge (and it's not unheard of for a double deck bus to get the roof sliced off https://www.aol.co.uk/2013/01/29/double-decker-bus-roof-ripped-off-railway-bridge-crash-hampshire/). We've had a couple of high profile strikes on overbridges; in one case on the London suburban network a concrete truck demolished the bridge parapet and fell onto a passing train http://www.rail.co.uk/rail-news/2013/no-claims-bonus-los-as-lorry-accident-causes-large-train-repair-bill/. The result has been the addition of protection on many bridges where the risk of something falling on the railway from above is felt to be high.

What we do get is suicides. There are one or two stations on higher speed routes which have become notorious. People buy a ticket, go down to the platform, and then jump in front of an approaching fast train. As a result staff training has been beefed up and I've witnessed a couple of occasions where staff have gone to talk to someone who is standing in what I might call "prime position", We also have discrete notices at platform ends with the phone number of Samritans (help line) and, most recently, where one face of the platform is used by higher speed trains and the other by stopping trains, a fence has been built to segregate the platform.

We don't have the specific "Operation Lifesaver" by any name but Network Rail (the track owner) are constantly pushing the safety message. Look at some of the sub pages from here https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/safety-in-the-community/safety-campaigns/ for examples. Among other things they show that a fenced and gated railway is not a complete answer.

symph1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do these kinds of incidents (trespasser strikes)
> happen that often in other developed countries?

What's the point? The US is no longer a "developed county"--more like a "Second World" country.

railwaybaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> symph1 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Do these kinds of incidents (trespasser
> strikes)
> > happen that often in other developed countries?
>
> What's the point? The US is no longer a "developed
> county"--more like a "Second World" country.


I would tend to agree, but perhaps more to the point is what does developed mean?