Despite repeated efforts to cut down on the deaths of trespassers along the South Florida rail corridor used by Tri-Rail, Amtrak and CSX freight line, the fatality numbers so far this year have surpassed the total for all of 2025.
The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, operator of Tri-Rail, and Henderson Behavioral Health of Fort Lauderdale delivered the message Tuesday at the railroad’s Pompano Beach headquarters as they unveiled a new prevention campaign to curb suicides involving trains.
Called “Are You OK?” the idea is to enlist the help of frontline employees who work for Tri-Rail and its contractors to act as a “bridge” between people who are suffering and mental health sources now available in South Florida, according to Dr. Steven Ronik, CEO of Henderson Behavioral Health in Fort Lauderdale.
The program is supported by a $56,500 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. It’s the first time Henderson, which started operations in 1953, has teamed with a railroad company to try to curb suicides involving trains.
Henderson employs trained clinicians, licensed social workers and mental health counselors among other specialists. It now serves not only Broward County, but Palm Beach County, the Treasure Coast and other points north. Its professionals, Ronek said, have often responded to emergency calls to help deal with the aftermath of deaths involving trains.
Pedestrian and trespasser deaths along South Florida’s rail corridors have vexed rail operators for years as urban and transportation planners have sought to expand railroad operations as a means of relieving the tri-county area’s congested highways. Brightline, the high-speed rail line that uses the historic Florida East Coast Railway line east of Interstate 95, is a national leader in train-pedestrian strikes and deaths, according to federal data.
At the Tri-Rail-Henderson news conference, Diane Hernandez Del Calvo, interim executive director of SFRTA, said the partnership goes beyond the company’s traditional concern about maintaining high safety standards.
South Florida Regional Transportation Authority interim executive director Diane Hernandez Del Calvo describes a new partnership with Hnederson Behavioral Health designed to curb suicides along the Tri-Rail commuter line. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
“This is about recognizing that many of the incidents we encounter around or near railroad property involve individuals who may be experiencing emotional distress, crisis, trauma or hopelessness,” she said.
Last year, she noted, Florida ranked second nationally in railroad trespassing casualties with 65 fatalities and 70 injuries statewide. “We continue to see these incidents at an alarming rate,” she said.
Last year, Tri-Rail had 12 train-pedestrian “strikes” with nine of them fatal. So far this year, there have been 14 strikes with 10 fatalities. This week alone, she added, there were four incidents involving pedestrians along the state-owned rail corridor used by Tri-Rail.
Employees as ‘bridges’ for help
The goal of the “Are You OK” program is not to convert railroad employees into mental health clinicians, but to help them recognize the signs of people in distress, engage them and buy time to summon professional help.
“The reason somebody completes a suicide is because they are trying to stop pain,” Ronik told the Sun Sentinel. “it’s a very simple equation. It’s tragic but they can’t tolerate the pain anymore. And unfortunately they become unrealistically hopeless.”
“The overall message is no one has to die by suicide,” he added. “In 2026 we have incredible, compassionate, innovative science-based mental health care that works. You have great outcomes. The whole key is to get somebody in that first step to engage not only with Henderson, but with many of the excellent health providers in South Florida.”
After the presentation, a Henderson social worker met with more than a dozen Tri-Rail employees to discuss the program and learn how it works. Participation is not mandatory.
But the urgency was not lost on the people in the room.
Just the night before, at the rail line’s station in Boynton Beach, a young man reportedly jumped from the platform into the path of one of Tri-Rail’s northbound trains. He died after being taken to a hospital, a company spokesman said, citing a police account.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, contact the 988 suicide and crisis hotline, or contact 211 Broward Crisis and Suicide Care Support at 211-broward.org.