In light of the recent fatality that occurred when a woman was struck on the train tracks near Golden Gardens park, people are reminded to not walk on the tracks.

“Please utilize the designated crossings,” said Burlington Northern spokesperson Gus Melonis.

Melonis said that there have been 19 fatalities on train track in the state of Washington this year alone.

“The Seattle - Everett route is by far the most problematic,” Melonis said. That line is where the most incidents occur whether those are close-call situations or an actually train struck.”

Melonis said that the tracks between Golden Gardens and Carkeek park as elsewhere are all private property and trespassing is a criminal offense.

“All railroad property is private property, and we issue situations to violators. We have an internal police department and we do issue citations,” he said.

Bob Boston, director of Operation Lifesaver, a safety division of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, said that there aren’t as many fatalities as there use to be.

In a study period of nine years leading up to 2004, there were 9 fatalities at Golden Gardens, in recent years only two. But between Carkeek and Golden Gardens parks there were still 13 fatalities in the last decade.

Boston said that there’s new fencing and signage along the tracks but that people access the rails via the parks.

“People think that crossing the tracks is a good way to take a shortcut to the recreation areas,” Boston said.

However with the recent fatality it is still unsure why the 41-year-old woman was walking the tracks.

“What she was doing there, we have no idea,” Boston said. “Maybe she expected the train to be on the other rail. But it didn’t, she had her back to it.”

“People need to know that trains run at any time in any direction. Freight trains don’t run on a schedule and they approach faster than it looks like - it’s an optical illusion.,” Boston added. “At Operation Lifesaver we have a slogan, ‘Stay off. Stay Away. Stay Alive’,” said Boston.