Recent fatalities in Erie highlight dangers of walking on, along rail lines
Pennsylvania among top 15 in nation for such accidents
There are plenty of east-west routes available to those who travel across Erie on foot, Police Chief Dan Spizarny said.
But railroad tracks aren’t the best choice.
Despite being posted as private property and off-limits, the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroad lines that cut across the city south of 12th Street remain a popular walking route. Two train-pedestrian fatalities in a two-week span in late October highlight the danger in hiking them.
Ronald Griffis, 42, of Erie, was killed on the late afternoon Oct. 18 when he was struck by a train while walking along railroad tracks north of Huron Street near Cherry Street. Griffis was wearing earbud-style headphones when he was struck from behind by the train, authorities reported.
A man and a woman whose identifies were still unknown on Thursday were struck by a train on the early afternoon of Oct. 29 on a section of rail line in the area of Chestnut and Poplar streets. The two were walking along the tracks when a westbound Norfolk Southern train passed them, and as they continued to walk they were struck by an eastbound train, according to information from the Erie Bureau of Police and Erie County Coroner’s Office.
The woman was killed in the crash. Coroner Lyell Cook said Thursday that he is still working to identify her. The man, whose name was not released by authorities, was seriously injured and was taken to UPMC Hamot.
There was almost a third fatality on railroad tracks in Erie during that same two-week span. Erie police were called to railroad tracks in the area of West 14th and Sassafras streets on the late afternoon of Oct. 26 after they said a 41-year-old city man overdosed on narcotics on the tracks. Police notified the railroads to shut down traffic while officers and the man were at the scene. The man, who survived the overdose, was charged by Erie police with misdemeanor counts of delaying railroad operations and disorderly conduct and a misdemeanor count of public drunkenness.
Prior to these accidents, the last fatal train-pedestrian crash in Erie County happened in May 2020, when a 17-year-old girl was hit by a train at the railroad crossing on Mechanic Street near Randall Avenue in Girard. There were three people killed in accidents involving trains in Erie in 2019.
Railroad tracks are private property and being on or near tracks without permission is considered trespassing, which is not only illegal but also very dangerous, a CSX spokeswoman said in an email to the Erie Times-News.
Pennsylvania ranked 13th on a list of the top 15 states with railroad trespassing casualties in 2020, according to a report released in September by the nonprofit public safety education and awareness organization Operation Lifesaver. Twelve people were killed and 11 injured in train accidents statewide last year, according to the report.
The CSX spokeswoman said the railroad works with local police departments to enforce criminal trespassing laws, with penalties varying by state and municipality.
Spizarny said it’s not a primary duty of the Erie Bureau of Police to enforce no-trespassing on railroad tracks. He said that effort falls on law enforcement officials with the railroads, who come through the city several times a year to inspect areas along the tracks.
“They ask us to remind people to stay off the tracks, and we do,” Spizarny said. “But we also recognize that the tracks run directly through the city and there are multiple people that do walk along the tracks.” He said people have to understand that, as the tracks are used by different trains, there are times, such as in the latest fatal crash, when they might see one train coming but not another train coming in the opposite direction.
Spizarny also said it can be hard to hear an approaching train if another train is passing or if a person is wearing earbuds, such as in the Oct. 18 fatality.
“It’s just unsafe and we highly recommend people stay off the tracks and away from the rails,” he said.