Finch Ontario - Several residents in North Stormont are among thousands in Canada with railway crossings on their private property who are currently, or could soon be, on the hook for repair and upgrade costs.
 
And some aren't too pleased about that.
 
One man, who lives in an area west of Finch, near Highway 43 and Goldfield Road, has the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) line running through his property, and doesn't feel he should be paying for the fixes, for upgrades required to adhere to Transport Canada's new regulations and standards.
 
The issue was also highlighted by the Chesterville Record with the newspaper reporting recently that Mountain resident Estella Rose, a former deputy mayor of North Dundas, was one of the residents receiving a letter from CP outlining her obligations to look after her railway crossing.
 
"They want $1,000 to $2,500 for liability insurance, but we already have farm insurance," Rose told the newspaper, adding the letter informed her the crossing would need new signage at a cost of $700, and that a yearly assessment at the crossing will cost $275.
 
"They should be paying us. It is an inconvenience for us, we would only go across to plant the seed, and maybe once to spray it, and then combine it.
 
"They (the railway) have always maintained it. That was the idea when they got the right-of-way. They used to put up fences to keep cattle in. If you called and told them your gate was not up to par, they would drop off a new gate. They always had a machine to cut the brush to be able to see down the track. Are they going to cut that too?"
 
The Standard-Freeholder contacted the CP media department with some questions regarding residents' concerns, and was told by Stacy Patenaude, the CP manager of government affairs and communications, that "existing federally regulated grade crossings must meet the requirements of the Grade Crossings Regulations by 28 Nov 2024."
 
Patenaude said Transport Canada has assigned responsibilities to private authorities and CP is trying to "contact and assist all private authorities, as much as possible, to understand the requirements of the regulations."
 
Patenaude added that residents with concerns can contact Transport Canada through its website.
 
Or, if they have disputes over costs for their crossing, they can contact the Canadian Transportation Agency at 1-877-850-7148, or through its website.
 
Incidents, injuries, and deaths are the main reasons for the required upgrades, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada reporting in one of its studies that between 2009 and 2015 there was annual national average of well over 170 incidents each year, with an average of nearly 25 fatalities and 25 serious injuries each year.
 
The Record reported it was early in 2020 when CP began contacting landowners with private crossings without agreements in place to sort out who was responsible for the crossing.
 
There are approximately 9,000 private grade crossings along more than 40,000 kilometres of federally regulated railway tracks in the country.
 
Todd Hambleton.