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Our year end newsletter first brings you first a recent nearby derailment, some information on where we are now in working collaboratively with politicians of all levels of government, then where we would like to go in 2021, then a summary of the many derailments we have highlighted from years past, then some information on high-speed passenger rail proposals one of which will integrate with our BNSF freight rail relocation, and finally a summary of identified safety aspects that need attention before the relocation occurs.
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IF you enjoy this read, and support our efforts, then please FORWARD a copy ASAP to all your friends and associates on the Semiahmoo Peninsula.
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MOST RECENT DERAILMENT … a fiery crash Dec 22nd just 20 miles south of White Rock, at Custer WA … there are many news reports from news media in BC and WA, and lots of speculation as to causes which are far from being determined … possibly the best summary with pictures assembled by Erik Seiz and writeup by Tracy Holmes in the Surrey Now-Leader … see link here (from Surrey Now-Leader article)… if you wish to digest further details as well as speculation regarding causes, then do a ‘google’ and get ready for a long list of articles .
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- We have built a collaborative ‘expanded mayor group’ that includes all levels of government including SFN, all committed to working towards political action on both safety and relocation [July 11th newsletter].
- We have talked directly with Mayor Doug of Surrey last October 6th with the idea of him and the City of Surrey taking a leadership role on this initiative … this would involve some sort of governance model that all could contribute to and communicate with … he has fortunately expressed his sincere commitment to this initiative but finds that present ongoing Surrey projects prevent him from engaging heavily at this time … he suggests he may well commit to taking on this role sometime in 2021, with the concurrence of the other political participants, which is just fine with us as advocates … if we may note, in one of our ‘group’ meetings, it was discussed how political efforts in the past 6 years have been fragmented and un-coordinated … now we have cooperation, collaboration, concurrence, commitment, communication, determination, patience, and hopefully soon, vision … between all participants, we have them all now, and we will use them all to the best of our abilities in 2021.
- We will in early 2021 talk further with Mayor Doug of Surrey, then arrange for another ‘zoom meeting’ with Mayors of Surrey and WR, Chief of the SFN, MLA[s] of Prov of BC, and MP of Fed Gov’t..
- We continue to engage Port Metro to become part of our collaborative group … former MLA/MP Gordie Hogg has recently added to these efforts.
WHERE we would like TO GO In 2021 … :
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- Confirm a leadership commitment from Mayor Doug and the City of Surrey, and name contributing members.
- Advocate for the creation of a governance and communication group to pilot this initiative into the future.
- Maintain continued commitment from political participants to date, and bring Port Metro firmly into the fold.
- Advance on engineering studies, economic analyses, urban/transportation plans, etc, all as outlined on card #12 of our website … www.railrelocation.ca
- Pay attention to, and take appropriate action, towards all short to medium term safety issues as outlined below.
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RAIL DERAILMENTS Highlighted from years PAST:
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Other than the recent one just S of WR, we have highlighted these from the past:
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- Sept 2020 near Hope BC .. 60 cars and a massive pile up … Link Here
- Elmo ON [31 cars], Kingston ON [8 cars], Giscome BC [20 cars], Irvine AB [12 cars], Guernsey [34 cars], Barons AB [21 cars].
- Jan 2020 … Report with great pictorials/graphs … Link Here
- Feb 2019 … Field BC … 90+cars … see … Link Here
- July 2019 … NYT’s article re Canada … see … Link Here
- July 2013 … Lac Megantic QUE … TSB report see … Link Here
- 1979 … Mississauga ONT … Link Here
- 1946 … Crescent Beach BC … lots of cars on the beach … see bottom of … Link Here
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Other HIGH-SPEED RAIL proposals … :
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- Cascadian Innovation Corridor initiative … well organized and gaining momentum … Portland to Vancouver … see Link Here … note the co-chairs both US and Canadian, and note a recent and excellent webinar … register for future ones if you are interested!
- Advocacy group recently proposes High-Speed Rail from Whistler to the LM and out to Chilliwack … see … Link Here
- Proposed High-speed rail Toronto to Montreal … see … Link Here
- And across the US, a high energy advocacy group proposing many new routes … see … Link Here … note Canadian contributors as well as US! … register for future webinars if you like!
- Our RR integration with high-speed rail from Portland-Settle is outlined on card #8 of our website … www.railrelocation.ca
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- As newsletter subscribers, and hopefully engaged citizens, you are the ‘bottom-up’ energizers for our BNSF Rail Safety and Relocation initiative.
- The political participants, talked about above, and outlined below, are the ‘top-down’ energizers for our BNSF Rail Safety and Relocation initiative.
- As advocates, we are to date the connectors, the information sharers, the website gurus, and at a later date, possibly knowledgeable contributors.
- Whereas we have acted on the suggestion from Mayor Doug of Surrey, that we continue to interact with each other in raising public awareness and media attention, the above message has now gone out to all political participants [as outlined below], and we ask that you also do you part.
- PLEASE forward a copy of this newsletter to ALL friends and associates you know on the Peninsula.
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FOR the RECORD - 'Safety Aspects identified by politicians in collaboration, and which will need attention in the medium to long term before the actual relocation occurs ... :
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Finally … a ‘Community Connections’ YouTube interview by former MLA/MP Gordie Hogg … now on the website … Link Here ... If you prefer audio-visual rather than written and visual, this may be for you!
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ENJOY this newsletter!
Advocates for BNSF Rail Relocation.
Craig E Harrold, Administrator
www.railrelocation.ca
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