Train & Railroad Accident Lawyers Serving Northeastern & Central PA

Depending on how the crash happened: the railroad operating the train, a separate company that owns or maintains the track, the manufacturer of failed equipment or signals, and at a grade crossing sometimes the authority responsible for the road approaching it. Northeastern Pennsylvania's lines are run by freight operators like Norfolk Southern, Reading Blue Mountain & Northern and the Delaware-Lackawanna, with Amtrak service at Harrisburg — and each entity involved has its own insurers and lawyers. We identify every responsible party before anyone else frames the story.

Three things. First, a railroad carrying passengers is a common carrier, held to a high duty of care under Pennsylvania law. Second, the industry is federally regulated, so violations of federal safety rules can define negligence. Third, the defendant is a corporation whose claims team starts working the scene immediately — while the critical evidence sits in the railroad's own hands. An injured person who waits weeks to get representation starts the case at a serious disadvantage.

Grade-crossing cases turn on the crossing itself: did the lights and gates work, was vegetation or a curve blocking the sight lines, was the crossing surface and signage maintained? The railroad is responsible for its signals and track; a government body may share responsibility for the approaching road — and a claim against a government entity requires written notice within six months (42 Pa. C.S. § 5522). We inspect and photograph the crossing quickly, before repairs or clearing change what a jury would see.

Yes — and this is where rail cases differ most from every other workplace injury. Railroad workers are not covered by workers' compensation; they sue under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA, 45 U.S.C. § 51 and following), which allows recovery for pain and suffering and full wage loss that workers' comp never pays. FELA requires proving the railroad was at least partly negligent — unsafe equipment, inadequate training, unsafe procedures — and gives you three years to file. Talk to us before signing anything from the railroad's claims agent.

The train's event recorder — its black box — captures speed, braking and horn use; signal-system data shows what the crew and any motorist were told; inspection and maintenance records show what the railroad knew about the track, crossing or equipment; crew scheduling records bear on fatigue. Locomotive and crossing cameras increasingly capture the event itself. All of it belongs to the railroad, which is why our first step in every rail case is a preservation demand that puts the company on notice not to lose or overwrite it.

Possibly, yes. Pennsylvania's modified comparative negligence rule (42 Pa. C.S. § 7102) reduces recovery by your percentage of fault and bars it only above 50% — and blaming the victim is the railroad's standard opening position, especially at crossings. Whether the gates actually worked, whether the horn sounded when required, and whether the sight lines met standards are questions the railroad's own data answers. In FELA worker cases, contributory fault likewise reduces but does not eliminate recovery.

It depends on who you are in the case. Injured passengers, motorists and bystanders have two years under Pennsylvania law (42 Pa. C.S. § 5524); railroad workers suing under FELA have three; a claim involving a government entity requires written notice within six months (§ 5522); and for an injured child the state clock generally starts at 18 (§ 5533(b)). The evidence timeline is far shorter than any of these — event-recorder data and camera footage need to be preserved in days, not years.

Train crashes involve enormous forces, so these cases are often valued on catastrophic-injury measures: lifetime medical care, permanent loss of earning capacity, and the human cost of the injury. The realistic number depends on your medical records and the liability evidence, not a formula, and no honest lawyer quotes one at the first meeting. The consultation is free and confidential, we advance the case costs, and our fee is a written contingency — nothing unless we recover for you.