Authorities are urging caution and respect for the law after launching a virtual platform listing openings in the fences protecting Montreal railroad tracks.
Posted at 5:00 am
MTLTracks.ca allows any Internet user to report the opening or closing of a breach in the barriers, as well as see live if it is being monitored by the police.
The platform is centered on the section of the Canadian Pacific Railway Line that separates the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie and Plateau-Mont-Royal counties.
“I had the idea a year ago. People were crossing the train tracks and Montreal’s response was not to make it safer, but to fine people $650,” the site’s creator, Oliver, explained in a phone interview with La Presse. He declined to publish his last name.
We needed a tool to know the right time to cross. People will do it anyway, so they might as well do it without being penalized for it.
Oliver, Founder of MTLTracks.ca
In his opinion, pedestrians and cyclists use these gaps to save up to 20 minutes of travel time.
However, crossing a railway line on foot outside of designated areas is illegal and can be dangerous. Last year, a 31-year-old woman was killed while in the right-of-way of the railway near the intersection of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Rue de Bellechasse.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The platform is centered on the section of the Canadian Pacific Railway Line that separates the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie and Plateau-Mont-Royal counties.
Forbidden Practice
Canadian Pacific didn’t directly comment on the launch of this new platform, and wouldn’t say if it would try to have it shut down.
“Pedestrians and cyclists should only cross railroad tracks at designated and marked public crossings, and always obey all railroad safety signs, devices and barriers,” said spokeswoman Stacy Patenaude. Train tracks should never be used as shortcuts. »
The City of Montreal, which owns some of the fences where the breaches are being made, is also urging citizens to exercise extreme caution.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
According to Oliver, pedestrians and cyclists use these gaps to save up to 20 minutes of travel time.
“It is not permitted at any time to breach and enter or move through the fences at the train tracks and fines will be imposed,” said publicist Hugo Bourgoin. In this context, the City of Montreal, in collaboration with the municipality of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, is working to close the gaps in the fence that are their responsibility (Outremont crossing) as they occur. »
Mr Bourgoin pointed out that in recent years the city has taken important steps to create new legal crossings for pedestrians and cyclists.
“I don’t think it’s illegal”
Oliver is pleased with the growing, if modest, popularity of his site: More than 1,000 hits have been logged and the reports are constant, he said. Buying virtual advertising, especially on the Instagram platform, certainly has something to do with it.
The information on the platform is current. I myself used my site a couple of times to see if the holes were open.
Oliver, Founder of MTLTracks.ca
Police presences have been reported a dozen times since February 10.
He doesn’t fear being sued for starting MTLTracks.ca. “I don’t think it’s illegal to see if there’s a police presence or if there’s a hole in the fence. It’s not like I go there and cut the hole myself,” the young man pleaded.
His website has a warning in the bottom left corner of the UI: “WARNING: Crossing train tracks is dangerous and illegal. This location does not encourage pedestrians to cross train tracks. Be careful. »