Trespassing fatalities are avoidable
tragedies
MONTREAL, April 27, 2015 /CNW/ - Trespassing on railway
property continues to cause unnecessary and avoidable deaths and
injuries across Canada. CN
(TSX: CNR) is launching its annual public awareness campaign
stressing the deadly risks of trespassing on railway tracks and
property. CN is also working with communities to try to keep people
safe by keeping them away from the tracks.
In 2014, there were 58 trespasser accidents in Canada that caused 36 fatalities and 21
serious injuries.
"Trespassing fatalities are entirely preventable," says CN
Police Chief Stephen Covey. "No
member of the public needs to be or ever should be on the tracks on
or rail property. The railway is not a safe place for children to
play and it is not safe for adults to take short cuts across
it."
During Rail Safety Week, CN's Security Team comes out in full
force in partnership with Operation Lifesaver, conducting safety
initiatives at commuter stations and railroad crossings. CN
employees across the company are engaged to help spread the word on
rail safety but we need the help of the communities we serve,
schools and our partners because education about rail safety is
everyone's responsibility. Together, we can help save lives.
"Grade-crossing accidents represented another serious type of
rail incident. There were 180 crossing accidents in
Canada in 2014, with 21 of these
resulting in fatalities and 25 resulting in serious injuries. These
tragedies can be prevented simply by obeying the crossing signals.
Trains cannot stop quickly and they cannot swerve to avoid a
collision."
CN has written to 235 communities across the country, informing
them that Canada's annual Rail
Safety Week will be held this year from April 27 to May 3.
For more information about the CN safety initiatives in your
area, click here.
Their basic rail safety messages are:
- Never walk or play on train tracks. It's dangerous and
illegal.
- Never play or stay near a stopped train.
- Cross train tracks at designated highway/railroad
crossings.
- Look for signals and respect them.
- Be prepared to stop at crossings.
- Cross the tracks in low gear; do not change gears while
crossing.
- Stalled vehicle? Get out quickly and move away from the vehicle
and tracks.
- Listen for warning bells and whistles when approaching a
crossing.
- Remember a train can hide another.
- Keep the CN Police number handy: 1-800-465-9239
For further details on these safety tips, please click here.
CN Police work year-round to reduce trespassing and crossing
incidents, fatalities and injuries, by identifying the highest risk
areas and develop targeted strategies to reduce
incidents.
CN has been promoting railway safety for more than 25 years
through its All Aboard for Safety community education
program. Every year, CN employees make hundreds of All Aboard
for Safety presentations and talk to more than 300,000 children
and adults at schools and community events in Canada and the
United States about the importance of safety and the dangers
of walking or playing on or near railway tracks. Part of the
strength of this program is the collaborative relationship with
major community safety partners such as Operation Lifesaver and
Parachute.
Operation Lifesaver and its partners created Rail Safety Week in
2003 to raise public awareness of the potential dangers at
highway/railway crossings and from trespassing on railway
property.
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than
C$250 billion worth of goods annually
for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource
products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail
network spanning Canada and
mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its
operating railway subsidiaries -- serves the cities and ports of
Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New
Orleans, and Mobile, Ala.,
and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis., and
Jackson, Miss., with connections
to all points in North America.
For more information on CN, visit the company's website at
www.cn.ca.
SOURCE CN