Public Act 094-0736
 		





SB2489 Enrolled
LRB094 18755 DRH 54137 b






    AN ACT concerning transportation.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:


 
    Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended  by changing 
Section 18c-7503 as follows:
 



    (625 ILCS 5/18c-7503)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7503)



    Sec. 18c-7503. Trespassing on railroad property; terminal 
security. 

    (1) Trespassing on railroad property prohibited.


        (a) General prohibition.
Except as otherwise provided 
    in paragraph (b) of this
subsection, no person may:


            (i) walk, ride, drive or be upon
or along the right 
        of way or rail yard of a rail carrier
within the State, 
        at a place other than a public
crossing;


            (ii) enter or be
upon any railroad property;


            (iii) without lawful authority or the railroad

        carrier's
consent, ride on the outside of a train or 
        inside a passenger car, locomotive,
or freight car,

        including a box car, flatbed, or container;


            (iv) willfully lead or
contrive
any animal
to go 
        upon the railroad's rights of way for any reason other 
        than to pass over
such rights of way at a marked public 
        crossing; or


            (v) throw or cause to be
thrown on to
the

        railroad's rights of way any waste paper, ashes, 
        household waste, glass, metal,
tires, refuse,
or 
        rubbish.


        (b) Exceptions.
This subsection shall not apply to:


            (i) fare paying passengers on trains or employees 
        of a rail carrier;


            (ii) railroad employees and an authorized 
        representative of rail
carrier employees, while

        performing required duties in accordance with 
        reasonable rail carrier
company guidelines;


            (iii) a person going upon the right of way or into 
        the
rail yard to save human life or to remove an object 
        that a reasonable person
would believe poses an 
        imminent threat to human life or limb;


            (iv) a person being on the station grounds or in 
        the
depot of the rail carrier for the purpose of

        transacting business;


            (v) a person, his family, or his employees or 
        agents
going across a farm crossing, as defined in this 
        Chapter, for the purpose of
crossing from one part to 
        another part of a farm
he owns or leases, where the 
        farm lies on both
sides of the right of way;


            (vi) a person having written permission from the 
        rail
carrier to go upon the right of way or into the

        rail yard;


            (vii) representatives of local, State, and federal 
        governmental
agencies in performance of their official 
        duties; and


            (viii) a person having written permission from the 
        rail carrier to go
in or be upon railroad property.

    (2) Penalties. 


        (a) Any person
found in violation of item (i), (ii), 
    (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (a) of
subsection (1)
shall be 
    guilty of a Class C misdemeanor for a first offense.  In 
    addition to
such other
sanctions as
may be deemed 
    appropriate by the court, the person shall be subject to a

    mandatory fine of
not
less than $150 or more than $500, or 
    to imprisonment for not less than 5
days nor more
than 30

    days, or both.  For each subsequent offense, the
person 
    shall be
guilty
of a Class A misdemeanor.  In addition to 
    such sanctions as may be deemed
appropriate by
the
court, 
    the person shall be subject to a mandatory fine of not less 
    than
$500 nor more than
$1,000, or to imprisonment for not 
    less than 10 days or more than one year, or
both.


        (b) Any person found in violation of item (v) of 
    paragraph
(a) of subsection (1)
shall be guilty of an 
    offense and in addition
to such sanctions as may be deemed 
    appropriate by the court shall be subject to
a fine of
not 
    less than $100 nor more than $500, or community service of 
    not less than 8
hours nor
more than 50 hours, or both. If 
    damage to any railroad property or bodily
injury
occurs
to 
    another as a result of a violation of item (v) of paragraph 
    (a) of
subsection (1), that person shall be
charged with 
    the
offense of Malicious Removal of or Damage to Railroad 
    Property or Freight
pursuant to Section
18c-7502.


        (c) Local authorities shall impose
fines as 
    established in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection 
    (2) for
persons found in violation
of
this Section or any 
    similar local ordinance.
    (2.5) Terminal security. The owner of a terminal is 
expressly authorized, within the terminal property, to 
construct and operate berms, commercially constructed electric 
fences, and monitoring equipment as security measures for 
reducing the economic impact of theft, enhancing homeland 
security, and improving the protection of the general public 
welfare. The terminal owner shall properly operate and maintain 
these security measures. Any electric fence installed pursuant 
to this subsection shall: (i) be marked with appropriate signs; 
(ii) be entirely surrounded at a distance of at least 36 inches 
by properly maintained non-electric perimeter fences at least 8 
feet tall; (iii) operate at a level of current that is not 
lethal to a human being upon contact; (iv) be covered at all 
times by an insurance policy maintained by the operator of the 
terminal for liability from claims arising out of the operation 
of the fence in an amount not less than $10,000,000 per 
occurrence; and (v) be regularly monitored and inspected by a 
qualified electrician. The use of any of these security 
measures in accordance with this subsection is not a violation 
of this Sub-chapter.


    (3) Definitions.  For purposes of this Section:

    "Passenger" means a person
who is traveling by train with 
lawful authority and who does not participate in
the train's

operation. The term "passenger" does not include stowaways.

    "Railroad" means
any form of
nonhighway ground 
transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic

guideways,
including:


            (i) commuter or other short-haul railroad 
        passenger service in a
metropolitan or
urban area; and


            (ii) high-speed ground transportation systems that 
        connect metropolitan
areas;
but does not include rapid 
        transit operations in an urban area that are not

        connected to the
general railroad system of 
        transportation.

    "Railroad carrier" means a person providing railroad 
transportation.

    "Railroad property" means all tangible property owned, 
leased, or operated by
a railroad
carrier including a right of 
way, track, bridge, yard, shop, station, tunnel,
viaduct, 
trestle, depot,
warehouse, terminal, or any other structure, 
appurtenance, or equipment owned,
leased, or used
in the 
operation of any railroad carrier including trains, 
locomotives,
engines,
railroad cars, work
equipment, rolling 
stock, or safety devices.
"Railroad property" does not include 
a railroad
carrier's administrative buildings or offices, 
office equipment, or intangible
property such as
software or 
other information.

    "Right of way" means
the track or roadbed owned, leased, or 
operated by a rail
carrier which is located on
either side of 
its tracks and which is readily recognizable to a reasonable

person as being railroad property or is reasonably
identified 
as such
by fencing or appropriate signs.

    "Terminal" means a rail terminal facility, intermodal 
facility where at least one mode of transportation serviced by 
the facility is a railroad, or other railroad freight facility 
larger than 25 acres.

    "Yard" means a system of parallel tracks, crossovers, and 
switches where
railroad cars are
switched and made up into 
trains, and where railroad cars, locomotives, and
other rolling 
stock
is kept when not in use or when awaiting repair.

(Source: P.A. 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 90-691, eff. 1-1-98; 
91-532, eff. 1-1-00.)


 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.