The horns of locomotives along the Florida East Coast Railway line will remain largely silent after the Federal Railway Administration decided that Broward County has done enough to address safety problems along the tracks that carry Brightline passenger and FEC freight trains.
A so-called quiet zone that extends from the Palm Beach County line to Miami-Dade County is safe for now, the FRA said in a Dec. 7 letter to the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization, a center of transportation planning for the county. The agency said it has accepted a plan designed to curb incidents involving motorists who try to beat trains across the tracks, and pedestrians who trespass on private railroad property.
“Going forward, FRA will closely monitor Broward MPO’s progress in advancing the improvements set forth in the plan and the safety of the quiet zone corridor,” the letter added. “If the plan is not followed or if risk levels within the quiet zone increase significantly, FRA will initiate a further review of the quiet zone.”
The agency went on to commend the MPO and local agencies for their “commitment to rail safety” and efforts to reduce train-vehicle incidents and “trespassing events” along the FEC corridor in Broward.
An accident-driven review
Last year, the FRA warned it would place the Broward zone under a review after the agency hosted a series of open houses to raise awareness about the train collisions with vehicles along the FEC, as well as trespasser deaths. Earlier this year, the agency started its review.
Last week’s letter to the MPO did not specify what it found, or offer any conclusions as to whether the absence of train horns played a role in a spate of deaths that have plagued the rail corridor over the last several years.
Broward MPO Executive Director Gregory Stuart, in a note last week to mayors and other community leaders who are members, credited the FEC zone’s preservation to a 40-page report that outlined the collective efforts of cities, law enforcement, agencies and Brightline to improve safety along the rail corridor.
“We were able to address their concerns of rail safety,” Stuart said in an interview. “We got that done with all of the cities and the county on the corridor and with Brightline. And we were able to do what we needed to do fast.”
Mike Stocker / Sun Sentinel
A man walks along the tracks that carry Brightline higher-speed passenger trains near the Fort Lauderdale station. The railroad operators and local agencies intend to introduce more measures to seal off the rail corridor from trespassers. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel file)
The initiatives included more safety hardware at railroad crossings, as well as educational and enforcement programs, the latter of which was spearheaded by the Broward Sheriff’s Office whose deputies started issuing tickets to violators.
The rail line is the main artery for Brightline’s inter-city higher speed train service that started in 2018. The FEC freight line uses it to move its trains between Miami and Jacksonville. There have been dozens of deaths involving Brightline trains since they began service, according to a running count by The Associated Press.
In 2019, most train horns in South Florida went silent as long-sought quiet zones went into effect across the region as development surged and local urban populations grew The zones, which cut off the horns 24 hours a day unless there is an emergency, were a relief for area residents.
Now, according to a summary of the report the MPO sent to the FRA in Washington, local agencies will work even more to keep the quiet zone intact.
“The Broward region has invested heavily in additional safety measures above and beyond the minimum requirements to mitigate negative and risky behaviors.” the summary said.
In the forthcoming months, it added, “the region will launch a strategic educational campaign, conduct another law enforcement blitz, and with the award of a Railroad Crossing Elimination Program grant, begin work on creating a sealed corridor.”