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November 25, 2025|Safety

New FTA Safety Advisory Urges Review, Analysis of Safety Performance Data Related to Trespassing and Suicide Events

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on Nov. 24 issued Safety Advisory 25-1 (SA 25-1) recommending that State Safety Oversight Agencies (SSOAs) direct Rail Transit Agencies (RTAs) within their jurisdiction to use their Safety Management Systems (SMS) “to identify hazards related to rail trespassing and suicide events, perform safety risk assessments, identify safety risk mitigations as necessary to reduce safety risk associated with trespassing and suicide events, and utilize safety performance monitoring and measurement procedures to assess the effectiveness of mitigations.”

According to the FTA, trespasser- and suicide-related events have been steadily increasing in the transit industry and are the leading source of transit-related fatalities, accounting for 50% of all fatalities reported to the National Transit Database (NTD) in calendar year 2024. Trespassing and suicide encompass a variety of different types of events, including but not limited to the following:

  • “Transit customers intentionally jumping, walking, or lying in front of trains, for the purposes of self-harm, resulting in a collision.
  • “Transit customers trespassing on the rail right-of-way (ROW) from transit station platforms, resulting in accidental collision with a rail vehicle or fatality or injury due to tripping, falling, or electric shock.
  • “People trespassing on rail ROW while sheltering in tunnels, resulting in collision, slips and falls, or electric shock.”

Rail trespass and suicide major events, fatalities, and injuries steadily increased from 2016 to 2024, according to the FTA. Rail trespass and suicide major events increased 71%, fatalities increased 70%, and injuries increased 65% when comparing 2016 to 2024.

As per SA 25-1 (download below), the FTA is encouraging SSOAs to direct the RTAs under their jurisdiction to:

  • “Review and analyze safety performance data related to trespassing and suicide events to identify related hazards.
  • “Based on the analysis of safety performance data, conduct a safety risk assessment to assess the associated safety risk, as necessary, using the Safety Risk Management process defined in the RTA’s Agency Safety Plan.
  • “Based on the safety risk assessment, identify any new safety risk mitigations and any existing safety risk mitigations to be modified as necessary to reduce the associated safety risk.
  • “Monitor implemented mitigations as part of the performance monitoring and measurement component of the agency’s Safety Assurance process, including monitoring safety risk mitigations for effectiveness.”

The FTA recommends SSOAs obtain any documentation related to the recommended actions outlined above from their RTAs. FTA recommends that SSOAs that receive such documentation submit it to the State Safety Oversight Reporting (SSOR) system within 180 days from the issuance of this Safety Advisory.

FTA-Safety-Advisory-25-1-Reducing-Trespassing-and-Suicide-Related-Events-11-14-25Download