Two cyclists were caught on camera going underneath a train stopped at the intersection in front of the Revelstoke Railway Museum Aug. 17.
Doug Mayer, a volunteer at the museum, witnessed the incident and said the train started moving again roughly 30 seconds after the cyclists were clear.
Mayer said he can’t believe how stupid some people are and he sees things like this all the time. He has also seen people climbing over rail cars to avoid waiting for stopped trains and driving around control gates when the train is only two hundred metres away. It is dangerous, he said.
What annoyed him the most, he said, was that the cyclists appeared to be a man in his 30s with a 14 or 15 year old teenager.
“What kind of example is he setting?”
Crossing and walking on railway tracks is considered trespassing and illegal. According to CP Rail’s Rail Sense website there are hundreds of North Americans killed each year in preventable incidents with trains.
“Chances of survival are slim for trespassers,” the website reads. “Those who do survive often suffer from life-altering injuries, including amputation.”
According to CP this incident is under investigation by CP Police.
“As we approach Rail Safety Week (Sept. 21-27), CP stresses that behaviours demonstrated in this footage are extremely dangerous and could have resulted in these individuals suffering severe injuries or worse,” said Salem Woodrow, spokesperson for CP, in an email.
In June 2018, a man suffered complete and partial limb loss after trespassing on CP Rail property in Revelstoke.
In March 2020, a man was taken to hospital by air ambulance after being struck by a train outside of Ashcroft.
READ MORE: Man suffers complete, partial limb loss after falling off CP Rail train: RCMP
Those who are caught trespassing could be subject to a $115 ticket under the Railway Safety Act of Canada. Criminal charges and a fine of up to $50,000 are also possible.
Earlier this year CN Police announced they would be patrolling communities to ensure people weren’t trespassing and in Nelson this summer CP police said they would be educating and giving tickets to trespassers.
READ MORE: CP Rail ticketing track walkers in Nelson
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