Alabama Corridor Safety Efforts

Since the year 2000, the corridor from Montgomery, Alabama to Mobile has seen a high number of rail collisions.

Police Chief Simpson of Evergreen, Alabama and Bob Martin, Community Affairs & Safety Supervisor for CSX, join hands for community safety.

In 2007, 15 people died in train-car collisions in Alabam alone. Alabama is ranked 7th in the nation for the number of fatalities at grade crossings and 23rd in the nation for the number of trespassing fatalities last year.

In a continuing effort to promte rail education and safety, CSX has heightened its public safety awareness activities in this region of Alabama.

Activities include conducting Railroad Safety Emergency Responder (RSER) classes and safety blitzes within the communities along this corridor. CSX employees are partnering with Operations Lifesaver volunteers to conduct the safety blitzes, which involve greeting and distributing fliers to drivers who are stopped at the red lights on either side of the street approaching the crossing.

"CSX Transportation is committed to helping communities improve public safety at railroad-highway grade crossings," said Cliff Stayton, CSXT's director of public safety awareness. "The awful consequences of vehicle-train collisions are made even more tragic by how easily they can be avoided by simply obeying the law and using good judgment."