Binghamton Fire Dpt. train & railroad safety

CONKLIN, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – First responders climbed aboard a Norfolk Southern locomotive this morning to learn about train hazards and how to stay safe around railroad tracks.

Norfolk Southern’s Safety Demonstration Train rolled into Conklin today to train local first responders and volunteer agencies.

Members of the Binghamton Fire Department got to tour the train, and learned about specific safety measures, including how to identify tank cars, what they’re carrying, and how to respond to railroad emergencies.

Next week is ‘See Tracks, Think Train’ week, a national awareness campaign to highlight train safety.

Communications Manager Heather Garcia says the company trains over five-thousand first responders every year.

“We’ve got tank cars, we’ve got flat cars, we’ve got a locomotive. They can come here, do a little bit of railroad 101 in the classroom and then they can get out on the equipment and kind of experience it, touch it, get their hands dirty. Learn everything about the railroad, everything they might need to know if we ever had to work together on an incident response,” says Garcia.

One of the train cars is outfitted as a classroom, filled with chairs and a projector to give safety presentations.

Norfolk Southern says every three hours in the U.S., a person or vehicle is hit by a train.

Garcia says this is the safety train’s 9th stop this year out of the 19 that are scheduled.

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