Norfolk Southern Accused of Revoking Hammond Pedestrian Bridge Funding

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott accuses Norfolk Southern of revoking a pledge for a pedestrian bridge, a promise made after ProPublica highlighted children dangerously crossing blocked trains. This broken promise jeopardizes the vital safety project.

The company would certainly later make functional adjustments, such as stopping the trains in a different location to minimize the influence to Hammond and the schoolchildren. Still, one youngster was caught on video jumping from a moving train after Norfolk Southern said it made those modifications.

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Dangerous Train Crossings in Hammond

Kids go across over a parked freight train obstructing their path to school in 2022 in Hammond, Indiana. The mayor claims train firm Norfolk Southern is revoking an assurance to partly finance the construction of a pedestrian overpass.
Jamie Kelter Davis for ProPublica

The mayor claimed Shaw devoted to paying the full price of the job. The mayor stated the business made no written dedication, and Shaw was terminated by the railway in 2024. The company claimed its trains usually have clear flow through that area without quiting. “We never ever desire to hassle our communities with a stopped train, and we motivate everybody to always stay off railroad tracks and never attempt to cross between rail autos,” the representative composed.

The Promise of a Pedestrian Overpass

“Greater than 2 years later on, these changes continue to produce outcomes, consisting of an almost 50% drop in blocked crossing calls into our communications center at this location,” the representative composed in an email.

A representative for Norfolk Southern, which reported $2.9 billion in profit in 2025 according to its Securities and Exchange Commission filings, contested McDermott’s claims that the firm accepted give the matching funds yet said it did provide the city with $450,000 and “assisted officials in successfully requesting a government grant to make the city’s prepare for a pedestrian bridge possible.”.

Norfolk Southern’s Stance and Disputed Pledge

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However neighborhood and state authorities state Hammond is still seeing blocked crossings near institutions. Carlotta Blake-King, the neighborhood institution board president, informed ProPublica that district workers saw kids at a various location going across a stopped train as they left college as just recently as recently.

Hammond is a close-by residential area of Chicago, the busiest train center in the nation. At the time, the location served as a type of parking area for Norfolk Southern’s trains as they idled in between 2 active crossways– an expanding problem in Hammond and railroad neighborhoods like it across the country as trains obtain longer.

Hammond: A Railroad Hub’s Challenge

McDermott said the neighborhood will ultimately see some relief in the form of a car walkway in the area where the youngsters routinely run into the train.

Indiana state Rep. Carolyn Jackson, a Democrat that represents the Hammond location and has in the past introduced regulations to attend to obstructed crossings, said she does not desire the area’s kids to grow “up assuming that creeping under or over the train is a lifestyle.” Her worry is that without the bridge, “a kid will be drastically harmed or eliminated in Hammond.”.

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A Norfolk Southern spokesperson acknowledged the blockage however stated it was “not common for that area.” The company claimed its trains normally have clear flow with that area without stopping. “We never ever intend to inconvenience our areas with a quit train, and we urge every person to always remain off railroad tracks and never ever attempt to cross between rail cars and trucks,” the agent composed.

After magazine, Norfolk Southern’s chief executive officer at the time, Alan Shaw, called Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott to go over remedies, consisting of a pedestrian walkway. The mayor stated Shaw committed to paying the complete expense of the project. A speaker for Norfolk Southern told ProPublica the company never ever made any such dedication.

Initial Discussions and CEO’s Commitment

Officials began going after the overpass in 2023, after the news organization and its reporting companion, InvestigateTV, documented lots of youngsters creeping via, over and under trains that obstructed them from getting to and from school in the city.

The mayor said the company made no created commitment, and Shaw was fired by the railroad in 2024. Currently, McDermott is accusing Norfolk Southern, under its current chief executive officer, Mark George, of revoking the handshake deal. “The new guy got amnesia,” the mayor told ProPublica.

Revocation of Funding: Mayor’s Accusation

The mayor of Hammond, Indiana, states the rail company had actually guaranteed to aid spend for a pedestrian bridge after ProPublica and InvestigateTV documented dozens of kids creeping through trains to get to school. The business denies making this pledge.

For a while, the overpass effort seemed to have some momentum. The firm spent for design and layout strategies, and in June 2023 the city got a $7.7 million federal grant for the project. While it required a regional match of $2.6 million, McDermott stated Shaw consented to pay it.

Overpass Project: From Momentum to Standoff

The mayor of Hammond, Indiana, claims train firm Norfolk Southern is breaking a promise to partially finance the building of a pedestrian walkway at a hazardous rail going across that was the topic of a ProPublica investigation. And without the funding, he added, the task is dead.

McDermott claimed the community will ultimately see some relief in the type of a vehicle overpass in the area where the children consistently come across the train. The job, nevertheless, will not be finished up until at the very least 2029. And while it will include a path for pedestrians, it won’t assist many pupils, as they would certainly need to stroll at the very least a mile out of their means to reach it.