HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – For over 100 years Hopkinsville has been a railway city, with the historic L&N Depot sitting right at the heart of downtown. A growing commerce park and rising population has increased traffic and interested around the ever-busy tracks that split the city, causing several accidents in 2024.
According to the KYTC website, a person or vehicle is hit by a train approximately every three hours in the United States. Officer Royale Marfil with the Hopkinsville Police Department confirmed that there were two pedestrian fatalities in 2024 within city limits. Most recently, a 41-year-old man was hit and killed by a train by the Woodmill Road overpass near Durrett Avenue right after Christmas. “It’s extremely important for vehicles and pedestrians to stay off the railroad tracks,” said Marfil
In both of these instances, pedestrians were walking on train tracks with unclear intentions. Separately, two vehicles were struck by passing trains in Hopkinsville in 2024, one on Skyline Drive, and another on East Seventh Street. Both resulted in serious injuries.
Extensive train activity in Christian County
Miles and miles of tracks cover Christian County since CSX has one of their main rail services traveling to Commerce Park II right through the center of Hopkinsville.
Matt Hughes with KYTC District 2 said there are eight passive crossings with signs, and 22 active crossings with automatic gates and/or flashing lights in Christian County. This means that not every intersection of railroad track and road has flashing lights and audible warnings when trains are coming.
These tracks connect Hopkinsville to Nashville, Tennessee and other major cities in Kentucky. Trains are frequently passing through heavily trafficked areas like downtown Hopkinsville sometimes multiple times a day. The blaring horns and delays in traffic are now regular occurrences for residents in the city.
Prioritizing safety
To put it in perspective, HPD shared that the average freight train weighs approximately 10,000 tons and is around 1 and 1/4 miles long. Before accidents occur, if train personnel were alerted to a pedestrian or vehicle on the tracks, a train traveling at 55 mph would take one mile to stop after applying the emergency brakes. “Regardless of the crossing type and whether or not it has gates, motorists should always approach railroad crossings with caution,” Hughes with KYTC added.
KYTC recently completed construction on one of Kentucky’s largest ever rail safety projects. They partnered with CSX to improve the safety at all crossings through downtown Hopkinsville by consolidating redundant crossings, installing gates at the remaining crossings, and upgrading the train detection hardware at all crossings to maximize efficiency, according to Hughes.
“Safety is always CSX’s first priority, and every decision we make is intended to transport all freight as safely and efficiently as possible,” said a statement from CSX to Christian County Now.
If anyone witnesses a collision involving a vehicle or a pedestrian on a railroad, they should call 911 immediately. There is also a blue sign at every railroad crossing that has a USDOT crossing number, so callers can provide that number to ECC so they can notify CSX and prevent trains from entering the area.
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