Indiana Rail Road has hosted an 'Officers on a Train' safety event, inviting law enforcement officers to ride aboard its trains as they operated over the regional freight carrier's network in Indiana and Illinois. The initiative places police officers in the cab of operating locomotives, giving them a locomotive-level view of the right of way. From that vantage point, officers can observe vehicles and pedestrians at grade crossings and identify trespassers on rail property — violations that officers in patrol cars often cannot see until it is too late to act. For a regional railroad, the operational stakes are concrete. Every trespasser on the track and every vehicle stalled at a crossing forces train crews to brake, delaying freight movements and adding cost. Trespassing along track and at crossings also remains a leading cause of rail fatalities in the United States, according to federal safety statistics. Events of this type typically pair officers riding in the cab with fellow officers in patrol vehicles stationed along the route. When the train crew or the onboard officer spots a violation — a motorist driving around lowered gates, a pedestrian on the rails — the patrol units are dispatched to the location to issue warnings or citations. The railroad supplies the train; the police departments supply the enforcement. The format gives officers direct exposure to what train crews see, an experience police agencies and railroads say changes how officers approach crossing and trespassing complaints in their jurisdictions afterward. Indiana Rail Road operates roughly 250 route-miles of former Illinois Central line connecting Indianapolis with Effingham, Illinois, moving freight — largely coal, aggregates and consumer goods in intermodal service — over a corridor dense with road crossings and adjacent communities. 'Officers on a Train' forms part of the broader community safety programming that North American freight railroads run in cooperation with local police departments and the Operation Lifesaver public-awareness campaign. The railroad has indicated it will continue working with law enforcement agencies on corridor safety, aiming to reduce trespassing and crossing incidents on its lines.