Vancouver British Columbia - A new plan by CP to store railway cars on the Arbutus corridor raises "extensive public safety concerns," a lawyer for the city of Vancouver argued Tuesday.
 
The comment by city lawyer Joe Arvay was made during a court application by the city for an injunction to stop the railway company from any activity on the contentious corridor.
 
CPR, which has been in negotiations with the city to sell the property, issued an ultimatum this summer that residents clear out vegetable and flower gardens that have been flourishing along the corridor for decades.
 
In August the company proceeded to remove about 150 metres worth of gardens along the corridor, sparking a wave of public protest.
 
The company eventually agreed to stop any further destruction of the gardens pending the outcome of the court case.
 
Arvay told B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson that in November the railway company filed affidavits indicating that it now plans to use the corridor to store "intermodal" railway cars.
 
He argued that by abandoning the use of the corridor's railway tracks in 2001, the company now falls under federal jurisdiction and furthermore has no statutory authority under the Canada Transportation Act.
 
The threat to demolish the gardens violates an official development plan and is just a negotiating tactic to increase pressure on the city, Arvay told the judge.
 
"We seek an injunction to prevent them doing anything in the corridor."
 
Ludmila Herbst, also a lawyer for the city, said the plan to store railway cars is fraught with difficulty given the undulating terrain of the corridor and the risk of derailment in an area with a high population.
 
She said no formal risk assessment for the storage of cars had been undertaken by CPR.
 
"It doesn't seem to to be something that CPR has put its mind to."
 
According to consultants hired by the city, one of them a former CPR employee, it would cost more than $11 million to do upgrades to bring the tracks to a serviceable condition, she said.
 
CPR acquired the lands in 1886 and used the corridor's tracks as a passenger service until the late 1950s, according to the city lawyers.
 
From 1959 until 2001, the tracks were used only for freight cars but by the mid-1980s there were only a few freight customers left.
 
Eventually CPR decided that continued rail use was not cost effective and ceased all operations in 2001, Herbst said.
 
Arguments for the city are expected to continue Wednesday, with CPR lawyers giving their submissions later this week.

Keith Fraser.