An accident waiting to happen

I am one of the many West Island commuters who take the AMT train daily to go to work.

I have to walk over two sets of train tracks used by CN Railway and Via Rail to get to the Baie-d’Urfé station. Via Rail trains pass by fairly quickly, so they are not a major issue. But when you are stuck waiting for a CN Railway train to pass — a slow and long train — you often end up missing the AMT train that comes and goes on the other side. There is often a large group of people waiting to cross to get to the AMT train, but the train doesn’t wait an extra minute for them.

This happened again recently. I and about 10 other commuters were stuck waiting for the long CN Railway train.

I was there at least five minutes before for the 7: 27 train and was stuck waiting for the CN Railway train to pass. I missed my train and got on the 7: 47 AMT train, but another CN Railway train was approaching around that time, too, and I saw some desperate people running across the track, in order not to get stuck waiting for it to pass — and miss the AMT train.

This is extremely dangerous. Of course, people should be more careful and not risk their lives by running across train tracks. But I feel this is an accident waiting to happen. It’s wintertime, and no one wants to wait 20 minutes for the next train in freezing temperatures. Running across the tracks becomes very tempting, especially for the younger commuters who take the train to get to school.

So I am thinking: Would it not make sense to make a tunnel like many of the other stations to avoid any incidents? Easier said than done, I’m sure. A more immediate solution is for the AMT trains to wait an extra minute or two, especially if they can see the CN Railway train passing, and there is a large group of people waiting behind it. Amna Chishty, Senneville