18-Year-Old College Student Killed while Crossing Union Pacific Tracks Near Home
(College Station, Texas – January 14, 2013)
An 18-year-old College Station, TX man died early Monday morning as he attempted to cross unfenced Union Pacific Railroad tracks near his home in a large suburban populated subdivision complex.
Jacob Fahlman, a 2012 graduate of A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, died instantly at 12:50 A.M. when he was struck by a southbound UPRR freight train in an area where the maximum allowable train speed is 50 mph for the two dozen trains that operate through that corridor daily. The accident was near the intersection of FM 2154 and William Fitch Parkway in the south part of College Station.
UPRR Spokesperson Raquel Espinoza said that the victim “basically came from some brush located adjacent to the right-of-way.” She added that “We don’t have any reason to believe the train was speeding. At this time, everything seems to indicate the crew operated the train exactly the way they were supposed to,” adding that “As soon as they realized what was happening, the engineer sounded the train whistle and applied the emergency brake.”
Union Pacific’s own team of investigators was working with College Station Police on the accident.
