House Memo
2025-2026 Regular Session
See Tracks? Think Train! Week in Pennsylvania
September 8, 2026 01:12 PM to All Senate Members
Circulated By: Senator Lynda Schlegel Culver
Memo
In the near future, I will be introducing a resolution designating the week of September 21 to September 27, 2026, as “See Tracks? Think Train! Week” (formerly Rail Safety Week) in Pennsylvania.
It is my hope that this resolution will help raise awareness throughout our Commonwealth about the importance of rail safety education and encourage the public to take steps to stay safe around railroad tracks. This is a nationwide awareness campaign which seeks to reduce collisions, fatalities, and injuries at highway-rail crossings, and prevent trespassing on or near railroad tracks.
Railroads are private property, and accessing them outside of designated crossing areas is considered trespassing. This is a significant safety concern. Every day, people walk, exercise, or take photos on or near the tracks, contributing to approximately 1,317 pedestrian rail trespass casualties and 2,273 highway‑rail grade crossing collisions across the United States in 2025.
Pennsylvania ranks 11th nationally for highway‑rail grade crossing collisions with 56 collisions, 3 fatalities, and 24 injuries in 2025. The Commonwealth also ranks 6th for total trespassing casualties with 34 trespass-related deaths and 15 injuries in 2025. Alarmingly, in the United States, a person or vehicle is struck by a train roughly every three hours.
By declaring September 21 to September 27, 2026, “See Tracks? Think Train! Week” in Pennsylvania, I seek to highlight the urgent need for renewed commitment to preventing tragedies near tracks and trains.