(The following article by Karen Kleiss was posted on the Edmonton Journal website on April 11.)
EDMONTON — A collision between a train and a car early Sunday near Evergreen Trailer Park is the latest in a dramatically rising number of crashes at Alberta rail crossings.
Edmonton Police Staff Sgt. Allan Pitts said a westbound train struck the car at 167th Avenue and 18th Street shortly after 8 a.m.
The vehicle’s 57-year-old male driver was hospitalized with broken bones on his left side and minor injuries to his chest.
The accident is Alberta’s 20th rail crossing crash in 2005 — more than double the total at the same time last year. Figures from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board show Alberta is leading the country in rail-crossing accidents this year.
“This is not a very encouraging picture for Alberta,” Canadian National Railway spokesman Jim Feeny said.
“It is a huge increase and we are at a loss to explain why it is happening.
“This was an automated crossing protected by lights and bells, and we have every indication that those were functioning at the time of the accident.”
Transport 2000 Canada president David Jeanes said the jump may appear large, but statistically an increase of 11 crashes is not significant.
He said accidents like this one are very rare.
“If you look over a longer time horizon the numbers will likely even out,” Jeanes said. His non-profit organization advocates for better rail and other transportation throughout Canada.
He said the federal government is gradually installing more bells and lights to lower the number of rail crossing accidents and companies like CN teach rail safety to Canadian students and run television advertisements to educate drivers.
“The biggest problem with rail accidents is always education,” Jeanes said.
“People do not appreciate how fast trains are going and how impossible it is for them to stop.
“Almost every investigation shows that the motorist ignored the lights.
“It is probably the largest remaining cause of railway crossing accidents.”
Jeanes said the driver of the vehicle involved in Sunday’s crash was lucky to be alive because the force of a train hitting a car is immense.
The train involved in Sunday’s crash was hauling more than 95 cars filled with vegetable oil, grain products, wood pulp and gas; it weighed more than 11,000 tons. The locomotive sustained minor damage. Parts from the car were scattered along the tracks.
“It is a tragic thing when this happens, but it is also very difficult for our crews because there is nothing they can do to stop the train,” Feeny said.
“The onus is on the motorist to obey the rules of the road.”