Scott Hayes | [email protected]
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
In Jasper, the geography is unmistakable: the mountains, the river and the railway that runs through town.
"It's certainly a visible component of life in Jasper," said Brian Jones, inspector with the Mountain Division of the CN Police Service.
"You can't ignore the fact that the railway is there."
Its prominence to the community is helped by the number of trains that come through. Sitting on the section of the rail line called the Edson Subdivision, Jasper's tracks see a few hundred trains going one way or the other every single week.
"That is some of the busiest rail that CN operates in Canada: through Jasper."
September 18 to 24 marks the 20th anniversary of Rail Safety Week. Even though public awareness of the trains and the railway is already high, this is still a good opportunity to put public safety messaging at top of mind.
Jones said that Jasper has a good track record. The last train-related vehicle or pedestrian event was a fatal incident with a trespasser in May 2020.
The person was considered a trespasser, because it is illegal and dangerous to walk on or along a railway track.
Even though many people continue to do so, trespassing on railway property can face arrest and receive fines.
Safety, according to a CN media representative, is a core value at the transportation company.
"Our ambition is to be the safest railroad in North America with an uncompromising commitment to the health and safety of our employees, the customers we serve and the communities and environment in which we operate, at all times," read the prepared statement offered via email to the Fitzhugh.
CN's own policy statement repeats that message and adds, "We aim to foster a culture of commitment to safety at all levels of our organization."
It's not just about proper signage, the statement continues: it's about community involvement.
CN operates on nearly 33,000 kilometres of track across the country, making it this country's largest railway.
In order for rail safety to be 100 per cent effective, the community has to be involved. After all, you can't have fencing around all of that track.
"Rail safety is a shared responsibility and we ask everyone to be especially careful when on or near railroad property and at crossings. Look, listen, and live! That’s what it means to be rail smart," the CN statement continues.
CN's website offers some basic tips on how everyone can be 'Rail Smart'. It boils down to 'Stop, Look, and Listen'. The tips are simple and, CN says, they could save lives.
According to CN, more than 2,100 people are killed or seriously injured each year around North America, all because of unsafe behaviour around tracks and trains.
Part of the problem is what is called “speed misperception.” Because of their size, trains appear to be much further away and traveling much slower than their actual speed. People must remember that trains cannot stop quickly.
It is important to note that the weight limit of CN's tracks is nearly 130,000 kgs through Jasper, according to CN's website. Because of this, the average train needs at least two kilometres to come to a complete stop.
The tips bear repeating, especially for the hundreds of thousands of tourists that visit this mountain town every year. Those visitors might not be as savvy as Jasperites when it comes to rail safety, and that is a particular area of concern to CN.
That's why there are signs at the Via Rail Station trying to keep the tourists that are coming off the train and the parking lot.
That's also why there is the pedestrian underpass at Hazel Avenue. CN installed that underpass to limit people's opportunities and temptations to cross the tracks when trains are in motion and it is entirely unsafe to do so.
"I would say that, overall, as a community, rail awareness is pretty high in Jasper, but we always have to guard against that complacency," Jones said.
Without awareness, the statistics might paint a vastly different picture. Jasper's last human mortality was three years ago. However, there were 25 wildlife mortalities on the railways through Jasper National Park in 2022 alone, according to statistics obtained from Parks Canada.
Data for this year is not yet available, but more than 1,500 wildlife mortalities have been recorded since 1980.
"Rail safety, whether you are familiar with it or not, is a shared responsibility. We all need to be careful around trains," Jones said, adding that CN is ultimately trying to save lives.
