65 People Died While Trespassing on Railways In South Florida Last Year.
The program is backed by a $56,500 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration and will fund awareness campaigns along with training for SFRTA employees, contractors, and regional partners. The goal is to help frontline workers recognize the warning signs of someone in crisis and respond with both skill and compassion.
“Every life lost on our rail corridor is one too many,” said Marci Woodward, Palm Beach County vice mayor and SFRTA chair. “By working alongside Henderson Behavioral Health, we are taking a proactive, human-centered approach focused not only on prevention, but on providing hope, awareness, and intervention where it is needed.”
The numbers behind the effort are sobering. Florida ranked second in the nation for railroad trespassing casualties in 2025, with 65 fatalities and 70 injuries, according to FRA data. Within the South Florida Rail Corridor — shared by Tri-Rail, Amtrak, and CSXT — there were 12 trespasser strikes last year, nine of them fatal. The trend has not slowed in 2026: Tri-Rail has already logged 14 trespasser incidents, 10 of which were fatal…