by Wesley Harris
A 41-year-old woman attending a training course at the Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston was struck by a train at about 5:00 p.m. Friday evening.
The incident occurred on the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroad tracks within sight of the center’s facilities on South Trenton Street.
The Center said the woman was enrolled in a short-term immersion training program. She was walking home from the facility when the incident occurred.
Ruston Fire Department EMS personnel treated the woman’s critical injuries at the scene. Ruston Police Chief Eric Watson said the woman was airlifted to Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport.
UPDATE (10 a.m. Monday): The lady has been moved out of ICU and is now in stable condition.
Both north and southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 167 were blocked for several hours while Ruston Police investigated at the scene. The railroad crossings were reopened before 7:00 p.m.
A statement by the Louisiana Center for the Blind said, “We are keeping the student and [her] family in our thoughts and ask that everyone respect their privacy during this difficult time. We are grateful for everyone’s prayers and support.”
The Center was founded in downtown Ruston in 1985. In the past, LCB officials have said the school is located in the busy downtown area because of the need to teach students orientation and mobility skills to navigate real world situations.
While thousands of students have attended training courses at LCB, only a few serious injuries have been reported as they walk Ruston streets. In November 2024, a 23-year-old Louisiana Tech graduate student learning to teach the blind how to travel using a cane was struck by a truck. Although she was sighted, she was wearing shades to simulate blindness and carrying a white cane. When she attempted to cross a street, she stepped into the path of a truck making a turn.
A detailed survey of news reports and the records of the Federal Railroad Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation indicate only one other blind person has been struck by a train in downtown Ruston since the Center’s creation.
In November 2008, a 22-year-old LCB student was struck by a train at the same place as Friday’s incident. The man was attempting to cross the tracks on Trenton Street when he became disoriented b the sound of the train’s horn. He began walking parallel to the tracks and was struck and seriously injured by the train that was unable to stop in time. He was also airlifted to Shreveport for treatment of his injuries.
Two collisions between trains and motor vehicles have been recorded since 1980 at the Trenton crossing but none of the Vienna Street crossing. In one of the incidents, a vehicle had become stuck on the tracks before a locomotive struck it.
FRA records also show an average of seven trains pass through downtown Ruston each day between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
In its renovation of downtown infrastructure in recent years, the City of Ruston has placed fencing along parts of the railroad to help deter people from getting on the tracks. Obviously, the fencing cannot be extended onto roadways that cross the tracks.
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