Campus train issue results in stalemate

By Jonathan McFadden
mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

Photo by Aimee Harman • harmana@mytjnow.com

Brittani Copeland remembers three distinct times when a freight train blocked her path.

The first time, she was trying to make it to her 9:30 a.m. class. A train stopped right in front of the Courtyard, preventing the senior music major from crossing over the tracks.

As a result, she was late to class.

“The train stood there for about three to four minutes,” Copeland said. 

The second time, Copeland was walking to her apartment from the West Center when, lo and behold, a freight train blocked her path once again.

It stood there and “it felt like it was longer this time,” Copeland said.

Copeland said students tried to rush to class to take their final exams. So, trapped between a train and a hard place, they climbed.

“People were actually climbing up the train and walking through the train to get to the other side,” she said.

One female student fell, Copeland said, but got right back up.

The third time the train blocked access left students nervous when it didn’t block the Courtyard and University Place intersections that lead to the rest of campus. Instead, the train stood on the tracks. Residents were unsure whether to proceed across the tracks or not, fearful that the train could move at any second. 

Copeland said other students have complained about the train impasses, especially when the train blows through at night when everyone is trying to sleep.

“It disturbs us from sleeping,” Copeland said. 

Copeland, along with other members of Council of Student Leaders’ Campus Safety committee, met last Friday to discuss possible solutions to the train-blocking problems.

For most, the consensus was the same. The trains are stopping “at no good time,” such as in the early morning hours or while students are walking to class, said committee chair Andre Isaac.

 Freshman political science major and CSL member Parker Quinlan suggested the committee try to reach out to members of city council about the matter.

On Monday, Copeland reached out to the superintendent of the railroad company, Norfolk Southern, and asked whether the trains could stop coming through campus.

The answer was no, she said.

Because the trains are part of a business transporting freight, there’s no way to stop them from passing through campus, Copeland said the superintendent told her.

Moreover, he also said it was illegal for students to cross the train’s boxcars, deeming their actions as trespassing, Copeland said.

Copeland said the superintendent suggested students leave their rooms an hour or so early since there is no predictable schedule for the trains other than they have early morning and late evening routes.

Walter Hardin, vice president of facilities management, said the university has asked for assistance with the train issue in the past “with various levels of success.”

“The railroad is within their legal rights as they are federally protected,” Hardin said. “If everyone could stop them from blocking an intersection or pedestrian path, freight would never get across the country.”

Though the local staff changes from time to time, Hardin said the university will renew the concerns.

A representative with Rock Hill’s Norfolk Southern depot said the trains run 24/7 without a set schedule.