C'ville Police to Pedestrians: Stay Off the Train Tracks

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Updated: 1:09 AM Aug 18, 2008 C'ville Police to Pedestrians: Stay Off the Train Tracks The past couple weeks dozens of people have received tickets from Charlottesville Police for railroad trespassing. Many of those ticketed were students trying to get from their apartments to The Corner. Posted: 6:41 PM Aug 17, 2008 Reporter: Bianca Spinosa Email Address: bianca.spinosa@wcav.tv

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August 17, 2008

The past couple weeks dozens of people have received tickets from the Charlottesville Police for railroad trespassing. Many of those ticketed were students trying to get from their apartments to the Corner.

Charlottesville Police say the main reason they patrol the tracks is safety. So far, no one has been struck or killed by a train in Charlottesville. But there have been injuries.

Police say it is not just trains people should be concerned about, they warn that the secluded nature of the tracks is conducive to crime.

"Some of those freight trains come right through our downtown area, and people cross those tracks during the day," said Charlottesville Police Chief, Tim Longo.

The CSX Railroad runs through the heart of Charlottesville several times a day, both downtown and on The Corner. A majority of these tracks run through the University community, therefore many students are crossing these tracks as a short cut to reach The Corner, or avoid it.

"Even the panhandling on the street corner. If you don't want to get hassled, it's another good way to go, so people are just trying to find alternatives," said Kurt Jacobson, who lives across from the train tracks.

Part of the problem is that the paths in and around the tracks are well worn. Plus, there are no physical barriers, like fences or bushes to stop someone from crossing the tracks, which is exactly why police are enforcing the $100 fine.

"We are really vigilant at trying to dissuade students from crossing the tracks," said Chief Longo.

Chief Longo says students should stick to roads, pedestrian crossings, and other well-lit areas. When crossing the tracks, they run the risk of being assaulted by people lurking in the bushes along Virginia Avenue.

"I think it should be more of police making sure it's for public safety and not handing out citations, because from what I've seen that's what people think," said Jacobson.

However, it is not just students getting tickets. Some employees downtown have been ticketed for parking on one side of the tracks and walking across to get to work.

"These are adults and other working class folk who are merely trying to get from their place of enforcement to their car, but the law is the law and we don't draw lines as to who gets the enforcement and who doesn't," said Chief Longo.

The Buckingham Railroad Branch wants fences or some sort of natural barrier installed to dissuade people from trespassing on the train tracks. So far, those changes are pretty low on City Council's agenda.

All railroad tracks are the private property of the railroad. Railroad trespassing is a misdemeanor and you could face fines if caught crossing the tracks.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Throbbingunits Location: Lynchburg, VA on Aug 19, 2008 at 10:20 AM

http://www.rail-videos.net/video/view.php?id=3415 Check out this video to see what it's like from the train crew's point of view to nearly run over someone! SCARY!!!

Posted by: jim Location: cville on Aug 19, 2008 at 03:46 AM

the large bum population that hides along the Rivanna often uses the tracks to "commute" to the downtown mall and University corner where they put in their hard, honest day's work of begging. I sure hope that the police don't ticket these guys---they bring so much to our community.

Posted by: nighthawk Location: blunt central on Aug 18, 2008 at 04:13 AM

Surely fences along the train tracks to save lives should be low priority for our city council as compared to the hot button issues of too many plastic bags, Tibetan independence, and ever more giveaway programs for the alcoholic vagrants that infest the railroad tracks all the way from UVA to the Rivanna River. Everybody can see that Art In Place and "traffic calming" saves more lives than fences along railroad tracks. We need to give this town to UVA and let skilled administrators do the job that oblivious amateur social workers are now trying to accomplish.

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