To report a blocked railroad crossing, use the Federal Railroad Administration’s online portal at fra.dot.gov/blockedcrossings for a routine blockage, and call the railroad’s dispatcher directly using the number on the blue-and-white Emergency Notification System sign at the crossing if there’s any immediate danger. Both routes work best when you have the U.S. DOT crossing identification number, a six-digit alphanumeric code printed on that same blue-and-white sign.1U.S. Department of Transportation. Crossing Inventory Landing Page
Reporting a Non-Emergency Blockage
The FRA’s blocked crossing portal is the primary tool for reporting a train that is stopping traffic without creating an immediate safety threat. Submit reports as soon as it is safe to do so. Congress required the FRA to maintain the portal under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the agency uses the data to identify crossings that block traffic repeatedly so it can push railroads toward long-term fixes.2Federal Railroad Administration. Federal Railroad Administration Report to Congress – Blocked Crossing Portal Filing a single report will not move the train in front of you, but it feeds the record for that location. The more reports a crossing accumulates, the harder it becomes for the railroad to leave the problem alone.
The FRA welcomes reports from members of the public, law enforcement, and first responders.3Federal Railroad Administration. Public Blocked Crossing Incident Reporter If the blockage is causing a serious traffic hazard or trapping vehicles on a dead-end road, your local police department’s non-emergency line is also a reasonable call.
Reporting an Emergency at a Crossing
Skip the online form if the crossing has a malfunctioning gate or signal, a vehicle stuck on the tracks, or any other immediate danger. Look at the blue-and-white Emergency Notification System sign posted at every public crossing. It lists two things you need: the railroad’s emergency phone number, which connects straight to the dispatcher controlling that section of track, and the U.S. DOT crossing identification number for that exact location.4Federal Railroad Administration. Emergency Notification Systems at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings
Call the number, read off the crossing ID, and describe what you’re seeing. Calling from the scene is faster than routing through 911, and it lets the dispatcher ask you follow-up questions directly.5EMS.gov. Don’t Let Railroads Become Roadblocks If the ENS sign is damaged, missing, or you can’t safely reach it, the FRA’s Rail Crossing Locator at fra.dot.gov/railcrossinglocator lets you search by address, GPS location, or crossing ID and pulls up the emergency contact number along with other details for that crossing.6Federal Railroad Administration. Rail Crossing Locator App
What Information to Include
A report is only as useful as the details in it. The single most important item is the U.S. DOT crossing identification number from the ENS sign. That code lets the FRA and the railroad pinpoint the exact location in their databases without any guesswork about street names or town lines.
Beyond the crossing ID, collect as much of the following as you can:
- Date and time the blockage started, and how long it lasted
- Street name, along with the city or town
- Railroad name, usually painted on the locomotive or on the cars — common abbreviations like BNSF, CSX, UP, or NS are fine
- Locomotive number, the large number displayed on the side of the engine, if you can read it safely from a distance
Locomotives also carry a reporting mark, a short letter-and-number combination identifying the owning railroad and the specific unit. You don’t need to decode it. Writing down whatever letters and numbers you can see on the engine gives the railroad enough to identify the train. If no locomotive is visible from where you are, the markings on nearby rail cars still help.
What State Time Limits Actually Do
No federal law caps how long a train can block a road. Around 38 states and the District of Columbia have their own limits, ranging from five minutes in Ohio to ten in Oklahoma and up to fifteen or twenty in others, with violations typically written as misdemeanors carrying modest fines. Most of these statutes exempt trains dealing with a mechanical breakdown or another emergency, and they generally apply only to stopped trains or switching moves, not to a train that is continuously moving through, however slowly.
Enforcement is another matter. Railroads argue that 49 U.S.C. § 10501(b), which gives the federal Surface Transportation Board exclusive jurisdiction over rail operations, preempts state time limits entirely.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 10501 – General Jurisdiction Courts have largely agreed. The Ohio Supreme Court struck down Ohio’s blocked crossing statute as applied to CSX Transportation, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up that case as well as a similar challenge to Oklahoma’s law. So while the time limit in your state may exist on the books, a railroad that contests a citation will most likely win. That is the practical reason reporting matters more than waiting for a fine: the FRA’s database is the leverage that state statutes have not delivered.
What Not to Do While You Wait
Frustration at a blocked crossing pushes people into choices that can kill them. Railroad trespassing caused 789 deaths and 526 injuries across the United States in 2025, and a meaningful share of those involved people trying to get around stopped trains.
Never climb over, crawl under, or squeeze between rail cars. A train that looks completely still can start moving without a horn, a bell, or any gradual acceleration. Slack between coupled cars can snap closed hard enough to crush a person, and a train only has to roll a few inches to be lethal. This is where the worst outcomes happen, and it is the risk people most consistently underestimate.
Never drive around lowered crossing gates. Every state prohibits it. Gates are down because the railroad’s signal system has detected a train, even one you can’t see yet. Driving around them puts you on the tracks with no way to know what is coming from either direction. Fines are significant, and commercial drivers face license disqualification.
The safest response is the least satisfying one. Use a mapping app to route to the nearest unblocked crossing. If you’re an emergency responder, call the ENS number on the sign — the dispatcher may be able to expedite the train’s movement.4Federal Railroad Administration. Emergency Notification Systems at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings