National Rail Safety Week runs from Sept. 23 to 29 across Canada.
In early September, Parry Sound councillors voiced their support for the week, believing it is important to educate and inform the local public about rail safety, as the town has many railway crossings.
At the meeting, Councillor Paul Borneman expressed disappointment in how rail companies appear to only promote rail safety one week a year.
“This is the railway paying lip services,” said Borneman.
“We see nothing and hear nothing from them for 51 weeks, and then we get something from them (asking us) to support rail safety week, which we do whole-heartedly. But there appears to be a lack of effort on their end, at least at the local level, to do more than this. It is a social media campaign. There is no interaction in the schools or in the community.”
Last year 229 railway crossing incidents occurred in Canada, resulting in 66 avoidable fatalities and 39 avoidable serious injuries.
The Town will be contacting both CN and CPKC to see if they are planning any local outreach.
