Suicide is a tough, and in some respects intractable, risk management issue facing railroads.
“Just think of the physical characteristics of a railroad,” said David Adamczyk, New York-based executive vice president of U.S. railroad for Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. “You’ve got railroad track throughout the country.”
“It’s wide open. You can’t put a fence around the entire stretch of track, and you’ve got people living near railroad property,” he said. “(Suicide) is an exposure that’s inherent to railroads.”
“Basically, there’s nothing anyone can do to someone who wants to commit suicide by train,” said John Anderson, deputy general counsel for Metra, a Chicago-area transit system.
Metra offers educational programs focused on trains and mental health, including speaking at high schools, he said.
It has also trained station personnel, conductors and engineers to detect behavior they suspect signals a planned suicide, such as “people who stand on the platform and don’t get on the train,” Mr. Anderson said.
“We have had several successful interventions of people who were contemplating suicide by jumping in front of a train,” Mr. Anderson said.
The general implementation of positive train control, technology intended to stop trains before accidents can occur, will significantly reduce railroads liability but is not a cure-all, experts warn.