Submissions

Transport Canada’s Grade Crossings Regulations do not explicitly state who is responsible for bearing the financial burden associated with the newly mandated safety upgrades. In the past, these upgrades and ongoing maintenance have always been performed by the railways, at the railways expense. Our concern is that in cases where pre-existing agreements are not already in place, the railways are now taking unilateral action to shift the cost burden for maintenance and upgrades of private crossings onto farmers, where they traditionally have done so, under threat of removing an existing and active private railway crossing altogether. Furthermore, we are hearing from our members of cases where farmers have received 30-day notices to close their crossings or that their crossing was removed by a railway without any notice.