By Terrie Welwood
Every now and then, a story comes along that has to be dealt with IMMEDIATELY – even in the world of community weekly newspapers. This is one of those stories. It’s a story that could potentially affect farmers and landowners across the prairies.
It’s probably safe to say that over the last couple of weeks, Mayor Mervin Starzyk’s phone has been ringing a little more often. And he’s made a few phone calls of his own, one to Transport Canada, looking for a little clarification – who will be looking for a few answers from CP too.
Starzyk is the mayor of the RM of Yellowhead, in the Shoal Lake, Manitoba area. He’s been in municipal politics for more than 30 years and is the Midwest Director for Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM). His district runs from Gladstone, MB to the Saskatchewan border.
Not long ago, he began receiving phone calls from ratepayers within his RM who were alarmed by correspondence they had received from CP Rail. The letter was sent out on March 26, 2020.
THE BACKGROUND
“Canadian Pacific Railway have been reviewing their record files and databases for information pertaining to public and private rail grade crossings throughout Canada. This review has identified an incomplete number of records with regards to rail crossing user agreements between the private crossing owners and CP. Also in conjunction with the above review, a communications plan has been developed to advise the responsible parties of 8,877 rail crossings of Transport Canada‘s new regulations and standards for all at grade rail crossings. This letter is to inform you that the private rail crossing at the location described above has been identified as a rail crossing that is in use with no apparent agreement between yourself, the responsible crossing owner and CP. If our records are in error, please supply to the undersigned, a copy of your existing private crossing agreement. If the agreement has not been previously established, then please complete the attached private crossing application form… A private crossing agreement with CP along with the anticipated Transport Canada compliance updates will provide you with an authorized continued use and safety of your private, at grade rail crossings.”
Farmers who have crossings along the Bredenbury Subdivision rail line have each received the same cover letter from CP.
It continues:
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you about Transport Canada’s new grade crossing regulations and associated grade crossing standards which came into effect in late 2014.
To inform you about the findings from the recent crossing assessment which was completed at the above noted subject crossing. For each crossing, CP has outlined the work they deemed necessary as a result of their inspections, with – including the estimated costs. CP Rail is asking that the agreements be signed and returned to them by the April 30, 2020.”
And there’s more…
HUGE COSTS
“Once the grade crossing compliance updates have been completed by CP Rail workforce, an invoice will be generated and sent you for payment instructions. Please not, if CP does not receive a response to this letter, CP may proceed with the closure of the noted subject crossing.”
Depending upon the crossing, there’s costs for everything from upgrades to the crossing surface, the road approach and sightlines.
Starzyk said that while the RM of Yellowhead had received a similar letter from CP regarding upgrades to an approach in the Strathclair area about three months ago, it’s only recently that the issue as moved to private farmers.
“The copy of the letter that I received from one of our area farmers puts the costs at a over $3,000 per crossing,” he said. “And he has four of them on his land so that’s a pretty big hit.”
For the farmers too, there will be an annual crossing fee of $350 payable to CP Rail. That number, can change with every new annual contract. At the same time, the agreement with farmers requires that they carry a minimum General Liability Insurance of $5 million dollars along with $2,000,000 in Automobile Liability Insurance.
For the RM of Yellowhead, while there is a flashing signal there, they had received word that a sightline issue required an upgrade to a crossing at Gossip Road to include arms and a flashing light warning system would cost just under $465,000. For the municipalities though, the cost would be shared, one third to CP and half to Transport Canada, leaving just over $116,000 to be borne by the rate payers of the RM.
THE PUSHBACK
It’s little wonder than phones have been ringing everywhere.
Mayor Starzyk was just one of a number of people in contact with Dan Mazier, MP Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa. He and about 15 producers and landowners were part a ZOOM virtual meeting held last week. MP Mazier told the group that he’ll be in touch with Trudeau’s Representative to the Prairies MP Jim Carr to ask for his involvement.
Binscarth’s Garnett Cochrane was one of the group of local farmers with land along the railway who have been left a little shocked by the letter.
His quoted costs for one crossing are over $7,000. He’s contacted CP and Transport Canada. He’s told CP that he could certainly find someone to clear the brush they say is impeding the sightline at a much cheaper cost. That, he was told wasn’t allowed on CP land so he’ll have to pay the price that CP quoted.
DO YOU SIGN?
Garnett mentioned the brochure that CP had sent along with their letter A Guide to Transport Canada’s Grade Crossing Regulations and Standards For Private Crossings.
It quotes a study done by the Transport Safety Board which talks of 24 fatalities and 26 serious injuries at grade crossings.
“I understand that but it’s not very likely that those injuries happened with someone crossing into a farmers field,” he said. “When people are injured or killed by a train at a grade crossing, it’s a public crossing, coming off a public road, not a farmer’s field.”
He also questions CP’s timing of the letter.
“CP knew about this since 2014 and they’re just going to act on it now and then they send out a letter at the end of March telling us that this has to be signed by the end of April?”
While initially, he was simply hoping for an extension from CP at least until the fall, after speaking with Transport Canada and the Canadian Transport Agency who told them they will be looking into this much closer, he’s not planning on signing the CP documents at all.
Mayor Starzyk would tend to agree.
“The lady I spoke to at the Canadian Transport Agency said this; ‘she wasn’t going to recommend that farmers not sign but she did say that they certainly did not have to sign the agreement, as is.’”
And as quickly as the letters from CP and the story came up, with Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency they’ll now digging a little deeper, it’s unlikely this story is over yet.
The Canadian Transportation Agency asks farmers with concerns to contact:
Rail Helpline
1 877-850-7148
