Operation Lifesaver is the largest rail safety education organization in the United States. [1] It was founded by the Union Pacific Railroad in the early 1970s. [2]
Operation Lifesaver is the largest rail safety education organization in the United States. [1] It was founded by the Union Pacific Railroad in the early 1970s. [2]
In 1972, the Idaho State Highway Patrol, then-Governor Cecil Andrus and the Union Pacific Railroad mounted campaign to promote "Stop, Look and Listen" safety at highway-rail grade crossings. The initial teams spoke to civic groups, school groups, school bus and truck drivers. Idaho experienced a 43% reduction in fatalities that first year. [3]
In 2022, Operation Lifesaver celebrated 50 years of rail safety education.
Operation Lifesaver has trained instructors and authorized volunteer speakers who provide free rail safety education programs across the U.S. and abroad. They give free presentations to school groups, driver education classes, community members, professional drivers, law enforcement officers, and emergency responders. Their programs are co-sponsored by federal, state and local government agencies, highway safety organizations and America's railroad systems. [4]
In 2006, Operation Lifesaver requested that Disney edit a scene of the Pixar film Cars in which the character of Lightning McQueen races a train to a grade crossing while the crossing lights are flashing. Disney/Pixar removed the scene in question from theater showings, but the DVD release of the movie still included the scene.[ citation needed ] Disney/Pixar created a series of PSAs featuring Lightning McQueen to promote safe driving habits. [5]
On October 14, 2016, Operation Lifesaver requested via a Facebook post that Hollister Co. remove advertisements from their website showing teenagers walking on railroad tracks. Hollister removed the advertisements five days later on October 19.[ citation needed ]
In September 2017, Operation Lifesaver spearheaded the observance of Rail Safety Week across the U.S. to raise awareness of the need for caution near railroad tracks and property. [6]
In 2018, Operation Lifesaver Canada, which had been holding rail safety week observances for years, aligned its Rail Safety Week dates to coincide with the U.S. observance.
In 2024, Operation Lifesaver, Inc. renamed its observance of Rail Safety Week to See Tracks? Think Train® Week (ST3Week for short) throughout the U.S. to better represent what the week-long observance is all about:
- Preventing railroad crossing and trespass incidents - Concentrating public attention on the need for rail safety education
Operation Lifesaver has been criticized for its strong ties to the railroad industry and the group's skew toward the railroad industry. The industry has reduced its support of the group’s efforts by providing fewer workers to help spread the group’s safety message. The group has also been criticized for not doing enough to support pedestrian railroad safety in the United States. [7]
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, 33,400 miles (53,800 km) of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch line, or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end. Sidings often have lighter rails, meant for lower speed or less heavy traffic, and few, if any, signals. Sidings connected at both ends to a running line are commonly known as loops; those not so connected may be referred to as single-ended or dead-end sidings, or stubs.
On March 15, 1999, Amtrak's southbound City of New Orleans passenger train collided with a semi-trailer truck in the village of Bourbonnais, Illinois, United States. Most of the train derailed, killing eleven people. A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the accident attributed the cause to the truck driver trying to beat the train across a grade crossing. The NTSB's recommendations from the accident included increased enforcement of grade crossing signals, the installation of train event recorders at all new or improved grade crossings, and procedures to provide emergency responders with accurate lists of all crew members and passengers aboard trains. The city of Bourbonnais erected a memorial near the site to commemorate those killed in the accident.
The Gerogery level crossing accident was a vehicle-train crash that occurred at Bells Road on the Olympic Highway, where it crossed the Main Southern railway in Gerogery, New South Wales, Australia. The crash occurred on 27 January 2001 at 16:07 and resulted in five fatalities in a car that was struck by a Melbourne-bound XPT service travelling at 160 kmh. Although the train derailed in the impact, there were no deaths to the train passengers or crew. The crash site extended for more than 1 km south of the level crossing, with vehicle, train and rail track debris found throughout. There had been a continuing series of crashes at the level crossing prior to the fatal crash, resulting in the local road and rail authorities installing perceptual countermeasures such as warning signs and enhanced road markings in attempts to provide more information to drivers of the crossing location and characteristics and to influence vehicle approach speeds.
The 1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision was a grade crossing collision that killed seven students riding aboard a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, on the morning of October 25, 1995. The school bus, driven by a substitute driver, was stopped at a traffic light with the rearmost portion extending onto a portion of the railroad tracks when it was struck by a Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line train, train 624 en route to Chicago.
Lightning McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car and the protagonist of the Disney/Pixar Cars franchise. He was developed by John Lasseter and co-director Joe Ranft from a story concept by Jorgen Klubien. McQueen's appearances include the feature films Cars, Cars 2, and Cars 3, as well as the animated series Cars Toons and Cars on the Road. He is also a playable character in each of the Cars video game installments. Lightning is recognizable by his red body with yellow and orange lightning bolt stickers featuring his racing number on his sides. He is primarily voiced by Owen Wilson.
The BG&CM Railroad or Bountiful Grain and Craig Mountain Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad located in North Central Idaho.
A train horn is an air horn used as an audible warning device on diesel and electric-powered trains. Its primary purpose is to alert persons and animals to an oncoming train, especially when approaching a level crossing. They are often extremely loud, allowing them to be heard from great distances. They are also used for acknowledging signals given by railroad employees, such as during switching operations. For steam locomotives, the equivalent device is a train whistle.
Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains are moving safely and to stop them when they are not.
The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) is a North American railway industry group. It publishes recommended practices for the design, construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure, which are used in the United States and Canada.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Mississippi. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in supporting Mississippi's public transportation system, ports and waterways system, aeronautics and railroads. MDOT is headquartered in downtown Jackson.
Lincoln Industries Corp., also known as Progress Rail Services Corporation - Signals Division, manufactures railroad signal products sold to customers throughout North America. Founded in 1985, Lincoln Industries has been part of Caterpillar Inc. as a subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Corporation since January 8, 1998 and is organized under Progress Rail's Engineering and Track Services (ETS) group. Lincoln Industries maintains a headquarters and manufacturing facility in Louisville, Kentucky, a manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida and has access to Progress Rail facilities throughout North America for staging materials.
The Ottawa bus–train crash was a collision that occurred between an OC Transpo double-decker bus and a Via Rail train in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven on September 18, 2013, that killed six people.
Last Clear Chance is a 1959 American short film produced and directed by Robert Carlisle. Sponsored by the Union Pacific Railroad, Last Clear Chance is a safety film intended to warn young drivers to be careful at railroad crossings. The film's cast consists of William Boyett, Harold Agee, Mrs. Harold Agee, Tim Bosworth, William Agee, Christine Lynch, and Lou Spraker. Written by Leland Baxter, the film was shot in parts of Idaho. Wondsel, Carlisle & Dunphy Inc, based in New York City, served as the film's production company.
On the evening of February 3, 2015, a commuter train on Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line struck a passenger car at a grade crossing on Commerce Street near Valhalla, New York, United States, between the Valhalla and Mount Pleasant stations, killing six people and injuring 15 others, seven very seriously. It is the deadliest crash in Metro-North's history, and at the time the deadliest rail accident in the United States since the June 2009 Washington Metro train collision, which killed nine passengers and injured 80.
The 2015 Oxnard train derailment occurred on February 24, 2015, at 5:44 a.m. local time when a Metrolink passenger train collided with a truck that a driver had mistakenly turned from Rice Avenue onto the tracks and became stuck. After the impact, the train derailed at Oxnard, California, United States. As a result of the crash, the train engineer died from his injuries a week later and 32 passengers and crew members were injured. The truck driver exited his vehicle and ran from the scene prior to the crash; he sustained minor injuries that were unrelated to the crash sequence.
Pedestrian railroad safety is concerned with the protection of life through regulation, management and technology development of all forms of rail transportation. In the United States there are some 180,000 miles of track. Pedestrian railroad accidents are the leading cause of death on railways. More than 7,200 pedestrians have been killed by trains in the United States since 1997.
On November 8, 2016, Illinois voters approved the Illinois Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that prohibits lawmakers from using transportation funds for anything other than their stated purpose.
On June 27, 2022, the Southwest Chief, a passenger train operated by Amtrak, derailed near the small town of Mendon, Missouri. The derailment was caused by the train striking a dump truck that was obstructing the crossing of County Road 113, about three miles (4.8 km) southwest of Mendon. Four people were killed in the wreck: three passengers on board the train and the truck driver, with up to 150 people injured.
The Visalia District was a railway line in California's San Joaquin Valley that ran from Corcoran, California to Calwa, California. The line was originally built by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad and later acquired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
Operation Lifesaver is the nation's largest and most influential rail-safety group, but documents show that the organization is tightly bound to the railroad industry, and its critics, including many accident victims, say it inoculates railroads against liability in grade-crossing collisions
Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit association co-founded three decades ago by Union Pacific, has denied having a pro-railroad agenda.