Most railways follow lakes and rivers because the shoreline is relatively flat and much cheaper to build on. It is also scenic.
If you have not noticed, our trains are getting longer and longer, and the wait is also getting longer and longer for them to clear the crossings.
Holding up the building of new pipelines is aggravating this problem. Oil and gas is safer in pipelines than in railway cars. There is no solution to re-locating a railway to a new location if said location creates a new problem in the future.
We need a permanent solution to this problem. Some crossings allow trains to go under or over the road crossings. We need more of them. We need a solution to the White Rock beach railway crossing that has a reasonable chance of being accepted and would be a permanent solution. The cost, and who will pay for it, is also an issue.
There is no perfect solution to this problem. There are compromises such as a trestle over the shoreline or breakwater barrier that would compromise the view and possibly lower property values.
A better, but not perfect solution, would be to channel and cover the train tracks along part of the existing train route. Imagine that – a train beneath your feet. This would allow the beach-goers free access to the beach and totally eliminate future railroad kill. This would not only be an affordable solution. It would be a permanent solution. It is a public relations solution that the railroad company will most likely accept.
