CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Video taken by a local driver shows students climbing onto a stopped train to make it over to the other side of Old Atlantic Avenue.
Some students had to grab each other’s hands to make it over.
The person who sent 10 On Your Side the video says the students came off of bus 191 right at the train tracks.
It was a frightening sight for many who thought at any moment that the train could start moving, and the children could get hurt.
Neighbor Ashanti Lamb says for neighbors living in this area, trains stopping right at the intersection is a common sight. “It’s annoying, it stops and then it does not keep going. It will back up and come back and stop,” said Lamb.
10 On Your Side looked on the Chesapeake Public Schools website and found that bus 191 has multiple bus stops that are on the other side of the train tracks.
Lamb says she sees trains just stopped on these tracks multiple times a week, sometimes for almost an hour.
Lamb says it’s not only a safety issue for the kids trying to get around it, but she worries about emergency vehicles needing to get by. “Then they have to go all the way across the bridge and come around,” she said.
10 On Your Side made calls Tuesday to Norfolk Southern about the trains sitting on the tracks, and to Chesapeake Public Schools about the decision to let the children out at a railroad crossing.
Chesapeake School spokesperson Angie Smith responded Wednesday afternoon, but did not provide any information. She told WAVY, “The School Division is currently conducting an investigation into this matter. This is considered a personnel issue and we cannot provide comment.”