15 June 2010

Village Moves on Whistling Despite Death

Chase British Columbia - The accident that killed a man crossing train tracks in Chase Saturday won't deter the village from seeking to stop mandatory whistling, Mayor Harry Danyluk said Monday.
 
Police and the Coroner's service released no additional information on the death of a man at the marked and signaled Pine Street crossing early Saturday morning.
 
Judy Wilson, chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band, said the man killed was an Adams Lake Indian Band member in his 40s with a family.
 
"The largest key for me is education and safety around railway crossings," she said of the death.
 
Band members travelling to the village will sometimes use the railway tracks as an easy route, Wilson said.
 
Danyluk said the death is a rare and tragic event. It won't affect the village's pursuit of regulation that would stop CP Rail trains from a requirement to sound whistles at two crossings in the village.
 
It's a legal requirement under the Railway Safety Act for train companies to whistle at all crossings 24 hours a day. Train engineers are obligated to begin sounding the whistle a quarter mile from the crossing and repeat it until the train is on the crossing. Train crews will also sound the whistle if their view is restricted or something is on the track.
 
The only exceptions to the whistling regulations are at crossings where federally approved whistle prohibitions, such as in Kamloops, are in place.
 
Danyluk said one concern of safety authorities is that the line curves as it passes through the village, reducing visibility.
 
While he doesn't know the details of the accident, Danlyluk doubts a whistle would further deter would-be-crossers. At Pine Street, arms come down, lights flash, and bells ring at the crossing as the train approaches.
 
"We'll ask for whistle cessation. The trains are whistling constantly and at night there's a reverberation. When the guys come in they just lean on the horn."
 
The village was lobbying CP Rail, Ottawa, and the Ministry of Transportation to eliminate requirements for whistling at the two stops as part of a plan by the corporation to twin-track through Chase. But CP has delayed that project, which also delayed the whistle cessation request, Danyluk said.