With various hunting seasons underway in Iowa, officials with the Union Pacific Railroad are warning Iowa hunters to keep clear of their tracks. Mark Davis, spokesman for the Omaha-based railroad, says hunting along the right-of-ways isn’t only illegal, it’s deadly.Nationwide last year, 479 people were killed on U-P right- of-ways, and that does not count vehicle collisions. In 1998, the last year of state-by-state breakdowns, three pedestrians were killed in Iowa, six were injured. Despite trains being perceived as noisy, Davis says the big metal machines can quickly and quietly overtake and surprise a pedestrian.Davis says people who are on the railroad tracks or within the right-of-way are subject to arrest for violating trespasser laws and could face jail time and fines. He says the U-P has its own railroad police division that can arrest you if they catch you on a railroad track.Nearly 90-thousand trespassers were removed by railroad police from U-P property nationwide last year.
