OKLAHOMA CITY — BNSF Railway has filed suit to block an Oklahoma law which allows fines for railroads blocking grade crossings for more than 10 minutes.
The Oklahoman reports the suit filed Thursday in federal court in Oklahoma City seeks to establish that, as interstate commerce, railroad operations are governed by federal agencies.
The suit specifically targets police departments in Edmond and Davis, Okla., that have cited BNSF under the new law [see “BNSF cited under Oklahoma blocked-crossing law,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 1, 2019], as well as members of Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which can issue fines up to $1,000 for each violation.
BNSF won a case against a similar law in Kansas last year, while Norfolk Southern (in Indiana) and CSX Transportation (in Ohio) have also successfully challenged state laws in the last two years.
Towns try to slow down trains because of area density then they want quiet zones because they don’t want to hear horns signalling for crossings. On top of that you have drivers running crossing lights and driving around downed crossing gates. Yet somehow it is a railroads fault if it takes to long to get through a railroad crossing.
All it will take is someone losing their life because an emergency vehicle was blocked by a train at a crossing. The result could be an answer nobody likes..
@Joshua Oakley: Tell your city fathers to work with OKDOT and your local representatives to have a viaduct built at Main Street under the BNSF 4 track. Your town only has 3 crossings (it appears it had more once upon a time) and the closest overpass is at County 1700 south of town, well out of the way.
This will help traffic flow, maintain the viability of your downtown and allow BNSF more flexibility for trains coming up out of the Washita Ravine (single track main).
The only other option is to have BNSF put in a siding between Wynnewood and Davis where they can park while switching in and out aggregates and grain from your local businesses.
We have 3 crossing in our town. All 3 crossing are blocked every time there is a meet. As of current the average block time is 18 mins in day time. This new average has only been the for about the last few weeks. Prior to this new average we would have trains block the crossing in upwards of 45 min to 1 hour. As a matter of fact in the month of June three trains blocked all three crossing for up to 50 minutes each and then the next day we had two trains block our crossing from 45 minutes to 1 hour. Not once was the line broke to relieve traffic. This month longest has been 44 minutes. For this reason we had to build an EMS and a second fire station in case of emergencies. Now I understand that breaking the line is no easy feat. Having to walk the whole train and having to wait on the train to build air pressure back up must be very time-consuming. So if breaking the line is not acceptable for a train that has been blocking an intersection for 50 minutes then at what point is it acceptable? We are a small community and are willing and have been trying to work with BNSF. To the North and South within 10-15 miles is double lines. Why can’t train meet at either one of those instead of us having 4-6 meets a day? I really hope we can all come to a reasonable understanding. To do nothing just cause you can and don’t have to adhere to city and state laws doesn’t make for a good argument. It’s not about that it’s about being able to work with the community no matter the size and for a voice and no matter how small be heard. I say that because we have went and heard until recently. I can attest to this because I am a councilman in the city of Davis Oklahoma. The average time has improved dramatically but only after issuing a citation which was not written until 44 minutes had pasted. That is the one and only citation we have written and whether federal law supersedes that citation I honestly don’t feel it was that unreasonable. I know it was a rant and it turned out longer than I anticipated but just wanted people to understand the issues from first hand point of view.
Take the number of grade crossings in USA. Then see how many fire/ rescue/ police jurisdictions have a station on each side of every grade crossing. Not many. Where I live, the nearby City of Brookfield Fire and Rescue does but my hometown TBFD (Town of Brookfield Fire Department) does not.
Recent sightings of CP Rail intermodal trains they seem to be about two miles long. On double track at 25mph two passing trains could tie up a grade crossing for ten minutes – this is the course of normal operation with no problems.
Oh, to get a chunk of that litigation…
The above comments are generic in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.
BNSF will win this case, but there is a growing backlash in this country about this issue that I predict that within the next 5 years Congress will take some action on this.
With the longer trains it is only going to worse. As a retired class 1 employee I can tell you that in the area I live the railroad I worked for doesn’t make much of an effort to cut crossings in rural areas. Emergencies are one thing but crews dying on their hours of service and no relief crew in sight is another.
Perhaps these municipalities need to put more funding into grade separation when they receive state/federal money for road improvements
Mike:
With apologies in advance to Ms. Harding and those members of my family who are lawyers; were it not for frivolous lawsuits I suspect a significant portion of the bar in this country would be barefoot and starving.
As a class one employee I do understand the states and towns in Oklahoma and other states frustrations with trains blocking railroad crossings for an extended period of time and our company has a list of crossings we absolutely dont block longer than 10 minutes, and If for some reason its going to be longer we cut the crossing. Theres no reason for crossings be blocked longer than 10 minutes except where a train goes into emergency and can’t be moved until the problem is found and fixed. Remember the railroad tracks have been there in most cases over 100 years and ppl should know an alternate route when a train track is between them and their destination. In this case the STB is the only agency that can issue fines to companies that are involved in interstate commerce. Right or wrong that’s the law and filing lawsuits just to file a suit just because you cant to little Johnnie’s soccer field is a waste of time and tax payer money. Just my take!!!!!
As I said before, Oklahoma will lose.
If the states want action, they will have to gang up with each of the the Attorney General’s and file a petition with the STB.