The railway crossing at the entrance to Kennebecasis Park. (©2021 Google)
Rothesay council is hoping to get a bit more information on why a train blocked the entrance to Kennebecasis Park for more than 30 minutes last week.
On April 7th, a CN train stopped at a crossing during the morning commute around 8:30 a.m.
Mayor Nancy Grant sent a letter to CN and described their response as “inadequate.”
“My understanding has always been that the stops on public crossings have to be much, much shorter and certainly was a safety issue with emergency vehicles begin unable to access Kennebecasis Park,” Grant said.
Grant, in her letter to CN, said it was her understanding that “dynamic capacity” in the New Brunswick Southern Railway yard was the source of the problem, but that holding up access to and from the 300 homes in Kennebecasis Park was “intolerable no matter the operational convenience.”
“Surely, the train should be pulled back to a section of line with no public crossings when such a situation happens,” Grant wrote.
In response, CN said the blocking was caused by a “stop” signal at one of its signal locations, which is a shared track with New Brunswick Southern Railway.
“Our train operations are controlled by a fixed signal system and central dispatching control,” wrote Tiffany Edwards, the Atlantic Canada manager of public and government affairs for CN.
“It is not the crew’s discretion where they can stop, unless they experience some issue that requires an immediate stop as a safety measure.”
Council approved a motion to send another letter to CN on the matter.
