HART Warns That Wandering On The Electrified Rail Line Could Be Deadly
A group of trespassers recently breached a station and wandered onto the elevated track, prompting the warning.
Honolulu rail officials are warning the public to stay off the future transit system’s track now that the rail line is electrified, following a recent trespassing incident at the future Aloha Stadium station.
Anyone who touches the so-called “third rail” — the electrified track that helps power the trains — “will be shocked and could die instantly from electrocution,” the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation stated in a news release Thursday.
Closed-circuit security cameras captured four teenagers trespassing at the station and wandering on the track on Aug. 2:
HART Interim Executive Director Lori Kahikina said Thursday that it’s the only incident she knows of in which rail’s security cameras recordered trespassers wondering on and off the line. Nonetheless, the breach warranted public outreach to warn others of the risks, she added.
“When we saw that they actually went out on the guideway, that was alarming to me,” Kahikina said. “This was so dangerous.”
The four teenagers accessed the station and guideway track by climbing over a perimeter fence and then scaling the station’s stairway wall to bypass a gate, according to Kahikina and HART spokesman Joey Manahan.
Local construction firm Nan Inc. has not yet completed the Aloha Stadium station and remains directly responsible for the station’s security, they said. Once the contractor finishes the work and hands the station over to HART, the rail agency will directly manage the security, they added.
Nan has changed its security protocols in response to the incident, Kahikina said, but she declined to specify what those changes are in order to keep them effective.
HART and Hitachi Rail security officials, as well as HART’s security consultant, Lawson & Associates, are also addressing the issue, Kahikina said.
No part of the rail line is open for service yet, but Hitachi is regularly testing its driverless trains along the track.
