West Virginia opens online portal for reporting blocked grade crossings

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) has launched a new online portal through which individuals can report trains that are illegally blocking one of the 8,000 grade crossings in the state.

Under state law, it's illegal for a train to block a public street, road or highway for longer than 10 minutes. Exceptions are made in the case of an emergency or a continually moving train.

"Blocked highway-rail grade crossings are becoming a major problem in West Virginia," said PSC Chair Charlotte Lane in a press release. "By reporting these issues, PSC railroad safety inspectors will know where the problems are and will investigate the cause of the blockages."

Those inspectors' findings will be reported to the Federal Railroad Administration for review, Lane added.

The online portal is available here.