RALEIGH, N.C.  – The North Carolina Department of Transportation is making a new effort to prevent tragedy on train tracks.

A total of 22 people were killed on a train track in 2019 and the number has remained steady ever since. Officials are trying to figure out why this continues to happen and how they can address the problem.

A recent study is providing key information to transportation officials as they work to lower the number of deaths of people who trespass or get stuck on a railroad track.

Over the past four years, researchers have used thermal cameras on areas throughout North Carolina where trespassing has been a known problem. They looked at the season, the date, and time when people were entering the tracks.

Researchers know many underestimate just how dangerous walking on a railroad can be and further education for the public at large is needed.

"People are walking on the track and they have earbuds in and not paying attention, they're looking at their phones and ultimately everybody thinks, 'Oh I'll hear a train when it is coming, I'll feel it,' or something like that,” says Chris Vaughan of the Institute for Transportation Research & Education at North Carolina State University. “But that's not always the case."

Researchers will use the data to find engineering solutions for making railways even safer.