ATLANTA — Trains block roads and stall traffic for minutes, hours and sometimes days.
It's a problem across the state many are asking about following an 11Alive investigation, where we found that complaints about stalled trains jumped 259% in Georgia.
Our team went to the experts to Verify.
THE QUESTION
11Alive viewer, Mallory, asked, "Is it legal for trains to stop on tracks for more than 30 minutes?"
OUR SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, it is legal for trains to block roads in Georgia.
WHAT WE FOUND
CSX railroad is federally regulated. The company said it sometimes needs to make mandatory crew changes or stop for mechanical fixes.
State representative Jasmine Clark said states have little power to control this.
"Trains really do have a lot of immunity from legislative action at the state level," she said.
Right now, no law limits how long trains can block traffic in Georgia.
In 2019, a bill to change that in Georgia stalled.
If you see something, you'd like 11Alive to verify, email us at verify@11alive.com.
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