Train stuck for hours, blocking access to Surrey, B.C.’s Crescent Beach – BC | 24CA News
A BSNF railway prepare was stopped in Surrey, B.C., for hours Saturday, blocking entry to the town for tons of of properties at Crescent Beach.
Surrey RCMP officers and Surrey firefighters have been on the scene ensuring residents didn’t cross the railway unsafely.
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The prepare was stopped for greater than two hours, blocking the 2 entry factors for round 390 properties within the space.
A close-by resident mentioned emergency entry for these properties has been a difficulty previously and this newest instance of a blockage solely reinforces the concept a brand new entry highway needs to be constructed.
“I went down there and sure enough the train (was) broken across both of the roadways leading into Crescent, blocking it off, stopping people from entering or leaving,” Don Pitcairn mentioned.
“Say right at that time — you need police or an ambulance, they can’t get into Crescent Beach. I know (the city) has had plans of a bridge or a tunnel but no action.
“Emergency access is a huge issue. (Residents) get trapped down there because of trains.”
Federal rules say trains can’t be stopped on tracks blocking crossings for longer than 5 minutes.
The City of Surrey has beforehand mentioned there have been 16 incidents lasting from 10 minutes to a few hours at this location.
Global News has reached out to BSNF for remark.
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The Surrey Fire Service mentioned firefighters have been readily available, together with police, in case of an emergency scenario, however did admit the blockage would make dealing with an emergency extraordinarily difficult.
“Crews went down to the scene, surveyed the incident site, talked to BSNF (staff) there, and came up with a plan to keep a stage there and be able to cross on foot,” mentioned Greg McRobbie, a Surrey Fire Service assistant chief.
“Unfortunately, with this train blocking both crossings, there is no possible way (for emergency vehicles) to make (it across).”
McRobbie mentioned a evaluation of the incident can be underway as a result of size of time of the blockage. He mentioned that tracks are usually not blocked for greater than 10 minutes at a time.
Surrey RCMP confirmed officers attended the incident and did say tracks are clear and shifting as normal.
It is unknown what prompted the prepare to cease however Pitcairn mentioned he heard from one other resident that it was a damaged hyperlink between two prepare vehicles.
— With information from Global BC’s Alex Fuster.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
