GOSHEN — Norfolk Southern Railroad and the Goshen Police Department will be conducting a Trespassing Abatement Program or T.A.P. Officers will be assigned to this special detail on a selected date in an effort to deter individuals from trespassing on the railroad tracks in the city.

Crossing railroad tracks is only permitted at marked crossings.

Norfolk Southern reported in the Elkhart district (which covers five counties), eight people were killed in 2015 and two so far in 2016 as a result of trespassing on the tracks when a train approached. Goshen Police Department wants to work with Norfolk Southern to reduce that number to zero.

Train fatalities due to trespassing are entirely preventable.

Trespassing on the railroad tracks is illegal and prohibited by Indiana state criminal code IC 35-43-2-2 and IC 8-3-15-3. During this special detail, officers will be informing the public and citing violators who are observed trespassing on the tracks.