Can You Legally Take Photographs On New York’s Railroads?

NO TRESPASSING ALLOWED ON NEW YORK RAILROAD TRACKS. Not only is walking the rails dangerous but it is also illegal in New York State.

No matter which side of the tracks you live on, Wednesday June 4th is 'Railroad Trespass Awareness Day' so this is as good a time as any to get you on track with the laws regarding walking on, taking pictures on or even playing near railroad tracks.

There are more than 3,000 miles of railroad tracks in New York State. Without doing research most would assume that these tracks are public property but they are actually considered private property. If you build a house you have to buy the land. Same with  tracks, the railroad company owns the land making it private.

Private property aside, there are legal railroad crossing locations equipped with safety measures such as alarms, lights and gates letting you know it is not safe to cross. Trespassing is the leading cause of rail-related deaths in the United States.

According to Operation Lifesaver New York, every 3 hours a person or vehicle is struck by a train in the United States but what about New York? Here are some stats from 2021:

• 27 highway-rail grade crossing collisions, down from 25 in 2020
• 3 fatalities occurred due to highway-rail grade crossing collisions
• 9 additional injuries occurred due to highway-rail grade crossing collisions
• Trespassing on railroad property resulted in 23 fatalities and 25 additional injuries

New York State has the largest commuter rail and transit rail operations in the United States with ridership of more than 1.3 billion passengers per year and there are 37 freight railroads in New York State that operate along 3,528 miles of track.