17 January 2011

Resolving Railway Delays

Cambridge Ontario - City, region, and rail officials have been meeting to ensure that emergency vehicles are never again delayed at a railway crossing in Waterloo Region.
 
On 3 Jul 2010, an ambulance rushing a toddler to hospital had to wait seven minutes at a railway crossing on Concession Road for a train to clear the track.
 
The two-year-old boy later died of his injuries and while a coroner's inquest has been called, government officials and the three railways, CP, CN, and Goderich-Exeter Railway, involved are taking a more proactive approach. They have met three times to discuss what action can be taken to make sure a similar situation doesn't happen.
 
"As you can imagine, with this many agencies at the table, we have a great deal of ground to cover to make effective changes," said John Prno, Waterloo Region's director of emergency medical services.
 
"The one thing we are all agreed on is we want to make sure this problem gets resolved."
 
Since talks began in August, the group has ironed out problems with communications and now have updated railroad contact information in the 911 centre.
 
"We're close to finalizing the back-up mapping that will provide both paper and digital maps that more specifically identify details for every level crossing in the region," he said.
 
"The mapping will not only benefit emergency services, but also help us put in place further public education around how to properly identify a railroad crossing in the event of an emergency nearby."
 
Prno said the group has reviewed a number of potential technology solutions and ruled out many for one reason or another. The group is now working on a camera/crossing gate sensor combination that seems to have the most promise in terms of integrating each organization's technologies and networks. The region's traffic signals group is currently evaluating three different vendors' products and working with CP to link to their technology.
 
"We anticipate a final decision on this at our next meeting and hope to have a solution in place at both the Delta and Concession by the spring," Prno said.
 
The group is determined to have the changes in place prior to work beginning this spring on the Hespeler Road new grade separation, which will bridge the railway crossing just north of the Delta intersection.
 
While this new crossing provides the ultimate solution for emergency vehicle construction on the span, it will not be completed until late 2012.
 
Prno said lessons being learned from the Cambridge railway crossings will be applied to railway crossing across Waterloo Region. Talks are also having other benefits.
 
"Meeting regularly as a group has definitely led to more dialogue and the identification of different ways we can work together on a multitude of projects," he said.
 
As an example, Prno said CP Rail has just provided training materials that will benefit emergency services to deal with the railway.