Students could be prosecuted for criminal trespassing if they are caught crossing railroad tracks in undesignated areas, University police say.

“We’re just trying to avoid conflict with the property owners,” University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said Monday. “A lot of times police are just the facilitators, and if we give students information, they can make the best decision.”

Railroad officials told University police that students, staff and faculty were parking and walking on the private property.

The Athens line of the Great Walton Railroad runs from Jackson County to Athens and passes behind Sanford Stadium on East Campus Road. The N08 parking lot is near the railroad, and a wire fence separates the parking lot and tracks.

Students who live in Rivermill Apartment Homes apartment complex cross the tracks as a shortcut to campus.

Crossing over the tracks causes safety concerns, Warren Flatau, spokesperson for the Federal Railroad Administration, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“Deaths resulting from illegal trespassing are the leading cause of railroad fatalities,” Flatau said. “About 500 people die a year, and others sustain lifelong injuries.”

The Federal Railroad Administration’s lists the trespass fatalities by state. In 2007, Georgia ranked No. 10 on the list with 14 deaths.

Flatau said the majority of the deaths can be avoided.

“Trains are deceptively fast and travel at relatively high speeds and operate a lot quieter than television leads people to believe,” he said.

Flatau encouraged those who cross over railroads to be aware, cross at designated areas and never climb around standing railroad equipment.

Dave Bishop, general manager for the Great Walton Railroad, said Tuesday passers-by should use the overhead passes for their own safety.

“I had no idea that a railroad was private property,” Laura Gregg, a graduate student from Lawrenceville, said. “I have crossed over in the past, and so have people I know.”