A pedestrian was struck by a train yesterday afternoon in north Fort Worth, according to police, who dispatched officers to the area of West Bonds Ranch Road and Fossil Springs Drive after reports of the collision. The extent of the pedestrian's injuries was not immediately released. Social media users reported that Bonds Ranch Road in that area was shut down following the incident.
Police did not immediately provide information about the pedestrian's condition, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which first reported the collision. The rail corridor running through that stretch of road is owned and operated by BNSF Railway on its Fort Worth Subdivision, a line that carries an average of 36 trains per day, according to WFAA.
A Crossing Long Flagged as Dangerous
The intersection where yesterday's collision happened has drawn scrutiny from state and federal officials for years. TxDOT data reported in 2023 showed the average annual railroad-related crash rate at the Bonds Ranch Road crossing was double the Texas statewide average, according to Community Impact. The same report noted that crossing gates there typically closed for four minutes per train, and federal data showed the gates blocked nearly 18,000 daily vehicles for more than two hours a day, prompting local leaders to cite frequent delays for emergency vehicles trying to get through.
Those numbers helped drive the Federal Railroad Administration to award $17.18 million in Railroad Crossing Elimination grant funding to TxDOT and Fort Worth in June 2023, earmarked for a Bonds Ranch Road overpass. That federal investment fed into the city's $31.5 million Bonds Ranch Road Segment 4 project, which broke ground this month to widen the roadway and build a bridge over the BNSF tracks near Fossil Springs Drive, eliminating the at-grade crossing entirely, according to the City of Fort Worth. The city held a public pre-construction briefing on the project on August 5.
Growth Along the Corridor Raises the Stakes
The timing underscores just how much pressure the crossing has been under. Rapid residential expansion along the Bonds Ranch corridor, including the $250 million Copper Ranch mixed-use development that broke ground in late 2025, has significantly increased pedestrian and vehicular volume across the neighborhood's rail lines, Hoodline previously reported. Copper Ranch alone is bringing more than 400 apartments and a 400-student early childhood center to Bonds Ranch Road, adding to a submarket that has also seen an H-E-B land purchase and hundreds of new apartments proposed nearby.
It remains unknown whether the pedestrian struck yesterday was attempting to cross at a designated point or was walking along BNSF's private tracks, where Texas law treats trespassing differently. Under Texas Penal Code § 28.07, entering or remaining on a railroad right-of-way without consent constitutes Interference with Railroad Property, a misdemeanor, according to Saputo Toufexis. Nationally, trespassing on railroad property is the leading cause of rail-related fatalities, accounting for 70 percent of all U.S. railway deaths in 2024, per BNSF Railway safety data.
Texas Ranks Near the Top for Rail Trespassing Deaths
Preliminary Federal Railroad Administration statistics compiled by Operation Lifesaver ranked Texas second in the nation for pedestrian rail trespassing casualties in 2025, recording 135 total casualties, including 65 deaths and 70 injuries, trailing only California. The scale of the danger is compounded by simple physics: a standard freight train traveling 55 mph needs more than a mile, or roughly 18 football fields, to come to a complete stop after emergency brakes are applied, according to research cited by Greening Law, since freight locomotives can weigh up to 6,000 tons.
Fort Worth has been retrofitting other crossings with pedestrian safety upgrades in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the city began installing pedestrian swing gates at the Trinity Railway Express crossing on Riverside Drive, using an FRA-approved design that opens outward away from the tracks so trapped pedestrians can escape oncoming trains, as per Hoodline. That $720,000 project was funded through a local bond measure and federal grants. Saturday's collision at Bonds Ranch Road remains under investigation, and police have not released the pedestrian's identity or condition.
