In the past 24 hours, two train accidents have occurred in Utah. Despite these recent incidents, officials say the number of collisions has dropped in recent years.
The two accidents happened in Salt Lake City and West Jordan, coincidentally, a train safety event was scheduled for Friday morning. Union Pacific Railroad partnered with Operation LifeSaver to ride a locomotive from Salt Lake to Stockton to remind Utahns how to be safe around tracks.
Aaron Hunt, spokesperson for Union Pacific, says the company works with local law enforcement to raise public awareness at schools and in the community on how to be safe around trains.
“We go into the schools and make presentations about how important it is to remember that although you may not see a train, trains move very quickly and it takes quite a distance to stop a train.”
Remi Barron, from Utah Transit Authority, says the company has personnel hired especially for train safety who regularly monitor the equipment.
“We have an entire group of people that their whole job is to make sure that the system stays safe.”
So far this year, the National Transit Database has reported eight train incidents. While the numbers are slowly dropping, Hunt says every incident is one too many and reminds pedestrians to keep off the tracks and always look both ways before entering a railroad crossing.