KINGSTON – US Senator Charles Schumer is calling on CSX Railroad to increase safety precautions “with all due speed” at the CSX trestle over Abeel Street in the City of Kingston.
The lawmaker was in Kingston on Friday to sound the alarm following a July 30 incident in which ballast rocks fell from a CSX maintenance freight train as it crossed the trestle on Abeel Street. Two people were injured and several cars were damaged.
The problem of the unprotected tracks is nothing new, Schumer said. Dating back to 1992, when Conrail owned the tracks, the bridge was dangerous to residents as a large piece of a train dislodged from a railroad car and fell from the tracks, injuring two people below.
“The people in the City of Kingston should not feel unsafe in our community,” said Mayor Steven Noble. “Last month’s incident where ballast rock fell from a freight train as it crossed over the CSX trestle near Rondout Creek must be addressed by CSX immediate.”
The mayor said they are asking CSX to install netting above Abeel and Dewitt streets “and to generate and publically release a detailed report indicating how this incident occurred.”
