Brandon City Council Supports National Rail Safety Week September 23rd-29th

September 5, 2019

Brandon City Council has joined with the Canadian National Railway Company, the Operation Lifesaver organization, and many other Canadian municipalities in supporting National Rail Safety Week, which will be held this year from September 23rd to September 29th, 2019.

Council adopted a resolution of support for the annual awareness campaign at its meeting on August 12th, 2019, which noted that “it is in the public's interest to raise citizens' awareness of the dangers of ignoring safety warnings at level crossings and trespassing on rail property to reduce avoidable deaths, injuries and damage caused by incidents involving trains and citizens.”

The resolution goes on to state that “Operation Lifesaver is a public/private partnership whose aim is to work with the public, rail industry, governments, police services, media and others to raise rail safety awareness” and that “CN has requested the Council of the City of Brandon to adopt this resolution in support of its ongoing efforts to raised awareness, save lives and prevent injuries in communities including our municipality.”

In supporting the resolution, Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest noted that as Brandon has two major railway lines that run through the community, it is important to respect rail lines and the rolling stock on them, and that National Rail Safety Week goes a long way in helping to raise awareness.

Statistics published by CN Railway indicate that in 2017, there were in the range of 235,000 railway crossings in Canada and the United States and a total of 2,256 crossing accidents were recorded.

Further information on National Rail Safety Week can be found at https://www.cn.ca/railsafety.