How to save a life: Advocates work to prevent rail suicides amid increase
A decline in railway-related suicides in 2024 reversed last year as deaths by train almost doubled in Illinois, according to federal records.
The data is sobering but it’s also a call to action, advocates said at a recent “Prevent Tragedy on the Tracks,” conference organized by the DuPage Railroad Safety Council.
Seventeen individuals took their own lives along the tracks statewide in 2025, compared to nine in 2024. The 2025 tally, however, is lower than the 10-year average of about 21 people.
Meanwhile nationwide, the advent of the three-digit 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in 2022 has resulted in 4,400 fewer deaths among teenagers and young adults, according to a study published this year in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
“It’s a reminder that lives can be saved when we chose to act, to invest, and to care,” DRSC Chair Dr. Lanny Wilson said.
Experts at the conference strategized on engineering, technical and personal solutions to save lives.
BNSF executive Michael Kranz recalled a teenager’s suicide along railroad tracks in Joliet. The occurrence wasn’t just a tragedy for the teen and their family, it was also devastating for train crews and first responders, he said.
Moreover, fatal collisions involving rush-hour trains “can affect thousands of others within minutes,” said Kranz, senior manager of safety and training for passenger operations. “Every successful intervention has the potential to save a life and prevent the ripple effects.”
The freight railroad has identified hot spots in the region where a number of collisions have occurred and is limiting access to those locations through strategic fencing, landscaping, better lighting and anti-trespass panels — ground treatments that are difficult to walk on.
BSNF recently partnered with Cook County to obtain federal funds to install almost 18,000 additional feet of fencing between Cicero and Western Springs, BNSF manager of public projects Kara Brockamp said.
“Every unauthorized access that’s removed is one less opportunity for a tragedy,” she said.
Other professionals discussed deploying drones or using cameras and sensors to detect people and drivers at risk along railway lines and alert authorities.
At Metra, suicide prevention wasn’t widely discussed until 2017, when officials held a forum on the subject and later began training workers to recognize the signs of someone in distress and intervene, Executive Director Jim Derwinski said.
Still, “there’s a lot of work to be done,” to decrease both suicide and trespassing deaths, Derwinski said, citing 37 unintentional rail crossing fatalities across the region in July.
The Belt Railway of Chicago is also doing its part by producing a suicide prevention public service announcement showcasing the 988 hotline, which it previewed at the forum.
You should know
It’s not as sexy as the new Concourse D rising at O’Hare International Airport but the Midfield Cooling Plant deserves some attention, Chicago Department of Aviation leaders think.
Workers started pouring concrete on Oct. 13 and are now installing walls for the $250 million plant, which will be finished in 2028. The facility will operate as a “gigantic air conditioner,” conveying chilled water through a maze of pipes to keep Concourse D and the future Concourse E and Global Terminal cool.
One more thing
October marked the debut of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Safe Ride Specialists program.
Teams consisting of crisis intervention specialists and community violence intervention specialists will be focusing on the Red, Blue, and Green lines in an effort to reduce crime and create a secure environment for passengers.
In collaboration with social service agencies, they will offer first aid, housing aid, mental health counseling and violence de-escalation for teenagers and young adults, among other assistance.
“The increased presence of both police officers and trained crisis intervention specialists across the system is critical to our ability to continue to reduce crime and support riders in need on CTA,” Acting President Nora Leerhsen said in a statement.
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