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City to talk train whistles during meeting with CN Rail

The issue of noisy trains in the night has again made its way before city Councillors. Liz Rintamaki says she would like to see measures taken in Grande Prairie similar to what was done in her former hometown of Milton, Ontario.

“We implemented a bylaw and it was a struggle and a half. CN Rail met with the town of Milton over a period of time and we got it resolved so there is no horn blowing in Milton, Ontario. Having said that, crossing guard arms needed to be implemented and a lot of stuff needed to be done, but it was done.”

Rintamaki says her first and foremost concern is safety, but after her experience in Milton she believes there are better ways to go about keeping the tracks safe.

“If they have to blow their horn because somebody is on the tracks then so be it, but I also have a concern for police officers, fire fighters, people that work day and night and have to sleep at night or sleep in the day. There’s no reason for the horns to be that loud all night long and all day long.”

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Community Safety Director Horacio Galanti says the process of silencing the trains is something that has been looked at before, but it comes with a fair number of hoops to jump through.

“Transport Canada has to approve safety measures. That may be fencing along the railway, different barriers with arms or sirens.”

Until different safety measures are approved by the transportation authority, Galanti says any bylaw the city passed could not be enforced.

The city’s community safety committee has a meeting planned with CN Rail later in July, the issue of train whistles at night will be brought up then. The public is welcome to attend with an opportunity to ask questions.

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