Drivers speeding or using a cell phone near Canadian National property, take heed: CN Rail police have new powers.
Officers are now able to enforce the Highway Safety Code 500 metres around Canadian National property.
The force is made up of several hundred officers across the country and in the United States.
One of the most common offences, said CN police officer Pierre Bergeron, is also the most deadly: trespassing.
“There's a bridge right there, people use that to trespass,” said Bergeron, as he did the daily inspection for holes in fences around the level crossing in St-Henri. “Once they get on the bridge, there's no way to get off except for jump.”
CN police can already issue fines under the Railway Safety Act, but they have new powers.
“Last week we were sworn in as special constables in the province of Quebec. So we're just now at the level of the other provinces in Canada,” said Bergeron.
As of Oct. 1, CN police are now allowed to enforce the Highway Safety Code. Quebec is the last province in the country to give officers these powers.
CN will be working alongside Montreal police to issue tickets to drivers, pedestrians and cyclists for road infractions, including ones unrelated to trains.
“Use of cell phone, speeding, obviously, it's a cause of accidents. Not respecting the signs, the lights, the gates, these are things we can see often. Being stopped on the railway crossing themselves,” said Bergeron.
Earlier this year, 16-year-old Tristan Morrisette-Perkins from Dorval was fatally struck by a Via train in Lancaster, Ont.
In 2016, 46 people in Canada were killed as a result of trespassing on rail property, up from 30 from the year before.
