A train near Front Street in New Westminster - 29 Dec 2010 Andrew Barton.

23 July 2013

Quayside Residents Wait
for Rail Yard Ruling

New Westminster British Columbia - The Quayside Community Board is keeping its fingers crossed that the Canadian Transportation Authority will help residents enjoy a good night's rest.
 
Brian Allen, chair of the board's rail committee, said the nighttime noise issue is currently being considered by the Canadian Transportation Agency. Residents are hoping for a "fair and balanced" decision from the agency. "It's been a long and interesting journey," he told the board earlier this year. "I started this about 10 years ago to deal with this issue and that culminated in the summer of 2008, when the Quayside Community Board filed a complaint with the Canada Transportation Agency."
 
The Canadian Transportation Agency then helped the board reach a mediated settlement with the rail companies operating in the rail yard adjacent to their Quayside neighbourhood. The settlement sought to reduce, and ultimately, eliminate unreasonable noise and vibrations being generated by nighttime operations.
 
"The railways did not honour their obligations," Allen said.
 
The Quayside Community Board later filed a new noise and vibration complaint and asked the Canadian Transportation Agency to restrict operations in the rail yard to between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. "We are the first community in all of Canada to go this route and to request enforcement with the agency," Allen said.
 
Burnaby-New Westminster MP Peter Julian has also attempted to address the nighttime train noise issue at the federal level.
 
James Crosty, past president of the Quayside Community Board, said the board anticipates a decision at any time. He said the board and the railways were asked to provide additional information in June, and now await a decision about having rail noise ceased in the rail yard at night.
 
"We are waiting, waiting, waiting," he said. "A decision will be rendered, hopefully in our favour. The CTA can rule that the trains cannot operate in a rail yard between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., or they could rule that they can't do anything about the complaint so it is therefore over. It is wide open. They can do anything."
 
Crosty said the issue doesn't just affect local residents.
 
"This is precedent setting," he said of the agency's ruling. "There are over 20 communities waiting for the decision to be rendered. They are waiting for the CTA to make a ruling, which will affect them as well. It is like a domino effect. Their complaints are in, the CTA has put them on hold pending a decision about this."
 
The City of New Westminster has established a community panel to improve its relationship with railway companies. The panel, which includes representatives from the City of New Westminster, the four railways operating in New Westminster and local residents, will meet quarterly to discuss issues such as infrastructure improvements, pedestrian and road crossings, train whistles, and community and safety concerns.
 
Crosty is concerned the panel's terms of reference don't have enough "teeth" to make railways comply with any actions sought by the city.
 
"It's always good to have dialogue. There is no problem having communication," he said. "Why the city took five years to put that together is still a mystery to us." Mayor Wayne Wright said the city appreciates the efforts of the Quayside Community Board to deal with rail noise.
 
He noted that city staff has been quietly working behind the scenes on the issue as well, but it can be a "long and tedious" process to get action from railway companies.
 
"They could easily say to us, too bad, and they're not," he said. "They are actually saying... that's the way of the past to say too we are not interested, we are, and we want to participate. That's a big change for them."
 
Wright is pleased with the dialogue that occurred during the panel's first meeting and is confident positive changes will be coming regarding whistle cessation at several rail crossings in New Westminster. Because of the power that railways have, he said the city has to handle negotiations in a respectful, managed way.
 
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr is optimistic that the railways and the city can resolve whistle and noise issues without having to go to court.
 
"Once you start litigating you get winners and losers. The railways are way too powerful," he said. "We need them to work with us. too They are willing to work with us. We need to look at a different approach. That's all it is."
 
According to Puchmayr, the panel had a positive first meeting and will meet again in September.
 
In addition to being a member of the city's railway panel, Puchmayr has also been appointed as a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' railway committee's dispute resolution subcommittee.
 
"I feel very comfortable that dealing with it at the FCM level with the Canadian Railway Association is the way to go," he said. "Those things can spread out and affect everybody."
 
Theresa Mcmanus.

Vancouver Island
British Columbia
Canada