Vancover British Columbia - The train arms were down for about 40 minutes on Tuesday around noon on Harris Road in Pitt Meadows, causing frustration for many drivers and a "very dangerous situation," according to Pitt Meadows fire chief Don Jolley.
 
Jolley was stopped near the tracks as a container train passed through Pitt Meadows, but after the train passed through the crossing, the arms didn't go up.
 
The train crew didn't realize at first that the train hadn't cleared the track sensor that deactivates the crossing arms, said CP Rail spokesperson Kevin Hrysak.
 
To add to the problem, the train had a minor mechanical problem with one of the locomotives and wasn't able to move forward for about 25 minutes.
 
With the train arms down for such a long period of time, drivers were getting out of their cars and pulling up the arms or driving around them, Jolley explained, adding some drivers were also pulling U-turns over the meridian.
 
"It was just a horror show, very, very dangerous," Jolley said.
 
This is not the first time the train arms have been down for long periods of time, Jolley said.
 
As an emergency responder, that worries him as it can add several minutes to response times for fire trucks going south of the track if the arms are down.
 
The only way to get through is via Airport Way.
 
Hrysak said CP Rail regretted any inconvenience the incident caused motorists and pedestrians.
 
"We take these situations very seriously and will be doing a comprehensive review of what took place in order to take measures to prevent this from occurring in the future," Hrysak said.

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