More pedestrians killed by trains in Pa. last year

Trains struck and killed 28 pedestrians in Pennsylvania last year, an increase of 22 percent over the number of such deaths in 2011.

Nearly half the deaths occurred on SEPTA's tracks. Last year, SEPTA trains killed 12 people, up from 11 in 2011 and six each in 2010 and 2009.

Last month, a rash of train-related accidents and suicides prompted State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R., Bucks-Montgomery) to urge SEPTA officials to do more to prevent such fatalities, even if it meant reduced speeds or lost revenue.

The number of deaths of so-called trespassers was much higher in Pennsylvania than in New Jersey and Delaware, and the rate of increase was higher than in the nation as a whole, according to data compiled by the Federal Railroad Administration.

New Jersey saw a 40 percent drop, to nine deaths from 15, while there were no fatalities in Delaware in 2012, down from two in 2011.

Nationwide, 442 people were struck and killed by trains in 2012, up 7.5 percent from 411 in 2011. Those deaths do not include people killed in vehicle-train collisions.

"Educating a distracted public in order to reduce trespassing injuries and fatalities continues to be a challenge," said Don Lubinsky, executive director of Operation Lifesaver of Pennsylvania, an industry group seeking to improve rail safety.

Although there is no clear reason why train deaths are up, many of the fatalities are suicides, and SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey has said people may feel driven by economic pressures to take their lives.

Across the United States, vehicle-train collisions and casualties were lower in 2012, continuing a trend of declining rail-crossing accidents in recent years.