Safety advocates hope awareness can help lower number of suicides on train lines

The BNFS Metra train sits with passengers on board at Plank Road and Columbia Street in Naperville in July 2011. | File~Sun-Times Media

Updated: November 13, 2012 6:26AM

Last year, four people in Naperville took their lives by stepping in front of trains in the span of a few months.

In an effort to prevent those kinds of tragedies, the DuPage Railroad Safety Council together with the Illinois Commerce Commission and Operation Lifesaver presented a day-long conference Thursday at the Hyatt Lodge in Oak Brook.

DuPage Railroad Safety Council member Debbie Hare said the event was organized in light of the fact that “the rate of the most predictable cause of railroad incidents was down” and that other issues, including suicide by train, need to be discussed openly.

“The number of vehicle incidents has actually decreased, so we felt it was time to turn our attention to public safety and suicide,” Hare said. “This is a difficult topic that needs to be addressed and hopefully by understanding better why this can occur, we can prevent it.”

A lasting pain

Betty Olivera knows the pain that can come from having a loved one killed on the train tracks. A nephew of hers was killed eight years ago at a railroad crossing in Glenview.

After that tragedy, she joined the DuPage Railroad Safety Council as a safety advocate. She said that over the years she has seen awareness raised regarding safety “as well as a cooperative effort between the railroad and government officials and safety advocates to improve the situation.”

“There have been efforts to build underground pedestrian crossways to promote safety,” Olivera said. “I’ve continued to meet monthly over the years with this group and feel like it’s a way to still honor the memory of my nephew. There is always this tension between the media who sometimes sensationalize these incidents and the fact that train suicides are much more disruptive to people’s lives than who was injured. There are significant costs that enter into the calculation.”

Ian Savage, director of the Transportation and Logistics Program at Northwestern University, said that media hype after a tragedy can lead to “clusters” of suicide events, especially among teens.

“Figures in DuPage County ran significantly higher than other areas” when it came to fatal incidents on train tracks including suicides, Savage said. His theory regarding the higher local rate of suicides by train is that there are a large number of train lines crisscrossing DuPage County, especially when compared to some other areas in the state.

Stopping the suicides

Bethany Brooks-Genenbacher, president for The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, lost her only sister when she committed suicide by being hit by a train in Naperville in 1998.

“I didn’t even know that people committed suicide by trains back in 1998, and I believe we need to educate people about the symptoms and the signs of depression,” she said. “I also work as a therapist and we know that 90 percent of these people have mental health issues as well as psycho-social issues with friends of family. I think people need to be able to tell their stories and I tell mine to anyone that needs to hear it.”

Genenbacher suggested that Metra display posters in its stations and train cars alerting riders of the warning signs of depression.

Aurora resident Brian Soyk, who works for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, said Thursday’s event allowed him “to make a connection with people” that can help make rail lines safer and, hopefully, lower the number of suicides.

“This has given me a face-to-face connection and hopefully there will continue to be outreach efforts from our railroad as well as others,” Soyk said. “If we can save even one life, it will be worth it.”

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