Town disputes Amtrak over need for fences
The town Waterfront Advisory Committee says a report by Amtrak shows railroad officials have overstated the need to limit access to the Hudson River near the tracks used by the railroad.
The committee released the report, which it obtained through a Freedom of Information request, on Wednesday and said it showed that 19 incidents along the tracks over an 8½-year period were largely unrelated to access from areas where barriers are proposed.
“Two of the right-of-way incidents were fatalities, though neither clearly involved trespassing on the right-of-way,” the committee wrote in an accompanying press release. “One fatality was an Amtrak maintenance worker who was struck by a train, while the other victim was found dead near the tracks with injuries consistent with falling or jumping from a freight train.”
The committee further said five incidents were not in areas that would be impacted by constructing fences or gates.
“During striped bass [fishing] season, there are often anglers along the tracks in vehicles, yet only one incident mentioned a vehicle, and it was in March, [which is] earlier than striped bass season,” the committee said.
Amtrak officials were immediately available for comment.
Amtrak parent company National Railroad Passenger Corp., in an application being reviewed by the state Department of State, says the gates and/or fences will prevent a “train [collision] with either a vehicle or human being” without restricting authorized access points to the river.
“This fencing initiative will be a beneficial activity as it will deter pedestrian and vehicular traffic from crossing ... where there is no advanced train warning systems and trains travel in excess of 90 mph,” the railroad said.
In Germantown, the Amtrak proposal calls for 125 feet of fencing to prevent vehicles from entering an access road at the boat launch; 700 feet of fencing along the tracks at the nearby town park; and 245 feet of fencing at Cheviot Road.
The railroad also is proposing fencing near the tracks in Rhinecliff (at the south end of the train station parking lot), Rhinebeck (on Slate Dock Road, near the water treatment plant), Tivoli (at the rail maintenance road), and Stuyvesant and Stockport.