The interactive map shows train crossings across Houston. It will show a green dot when there’s no delay and a red dot when there’s a possible delay.
HOUSTON — A new tool has been officially launched to help drivers know which train tracks are blocked in Houston.
This comes after years of KHOU 11 reporting on the City of Houston’s fight to help Houstonians get solutions for dealing with blocked train tracks. Since 2021, Texas has led the nation in the number of reported train track blockages, with Houston accounting for at least half of that total.
Now, the city has launched Train Watch. It’s designed to give real-time updates at key railroad crossings throughout Houston.
The interactive map will either have a green or red dot where different train tracks are located throughout the city limits. Green indicates the railroad crossing is open with no current delay. Red indicates there is currently a train at that particular location with a possible delay.
There is an ongoing expansion of the program to help expand the network of railroad crossing sensors, which will allow for more real-time updates across the city.
“We want to make railroads part of the traffic congestion model. You know, we can, we can see where the cars are and the traffic is, but now we want to bring in where the trains are or what crossings are active,” Jack Hanagriff said.
This is one of several initiatives the City of Houston and East End Rail Safety District are working on to help people and first responders get around blocked train tracks. We’ve previously reported on the signs explaining alternative routes, limited train crossing hours and collaborating with cities on what worked for them.
According to the Train Watch webpage, there is ongoing investment into overpasses and underpasses as well as improved warning systems. They are also working on using available data to provide targeted solutions at high-incident crossings, coordinate with local first responders and provide public awareness campaigns.
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