(The following story by Althia Raj appeared on the Toronto Sun website on April 14, 2010.)
OTTAWA — The federal government will spend nearly $11 million to upgrade 155 high-priority rail grade crossings, Transport Minister John Baird announced Wednesday.
Baird said the money would improve safety at crossings where roads and train tracks meet, especially on the Quebec-Windsor passenger rail corridor.
Half of all railway-related deaths and injuries result from accidents at grade crossings, according to Transport Canada.
“Statistics show a decline in fatalities and injuries at rail crossings and that means we are making progress,” said Rob Merrifield, minister of state for transport.
The federal government also plans to prohibit the construction of new crossings on high-speed corridors where the trains exceed 128 km/h.
Dave Ryan, mayor of Pickering, Ont., met with Baird and Merrifield on Monday to discuss rail safety after nine CN freight train cars jumped the tracks at a GO station on March 30 — the sixth derailment in the Durham region since 2004.
Ryan called Wednesday’s announcement “very positive” but said it doesn’t address his municipality’s concerns.
What is needed is full public disclosure when derailments occur, Ryan said, adding it is something Baird promised.
“It’s not enough to say, ‘Oops.’ We need to know exactly what happened … so we can correct it,” he said.
2010-2011 GRADE CROSSING IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FUNDING PROJECTS
Province Projects Contribution
British Columbia 22 $952,598
Alberta 9 $1,352,800
Saskatchewan 12 $1,199,360
Manitoba 6 $419,360
Ontario 42 $4,081,199
Quebec 55 $1,496,813
New Brunswick 7 $1,119,920
Nova Scotia 2 $365,040
TOTAL 155 $10,987,090