Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / The stretch of CN Rail that runs between Prest Road and Eagle Landing Parkway (pictured) in Chilliwack has been documented as having some of the highest incidents of suicide in all of Canada, according to Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

CN Rail

Mayor Popove says CN Rail tracks in Chilliwack rank among Canada’s highest incidents of suicide

Jun 13, 2024 | 9:29 AM

CHILLIWACK — The stretch of CN Rail that runs between Prest Road and Eagle Landing Parkway in Chilliwack has been documented as having some of the highest incidents of suicide in all of Canada.

Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove made the remarks during his weekly appearance on “Ask the Mayor” with 89.5 JR Country radio host Glen Slingerland Thursday morning (June 13).

CN Rail the City of Chilliwack last Friday, June 7 that it would reinstitute train whistling in Chilliwack after a person was struck and killed by a train last week. According to a directive posted on the city’s website, CN Rail has informed the municipality that by order from Transport Canada, effective immediately, they have re-instituted train whistling between mile 70.3 (Prest Road crossing) and mile 75 (Industrial Way crossing) in response to a recent fatality on the tracks.

A Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson told Fraser Valley Today that a man died after being struck by a train Wednesday morning (June 5). According to a statement from Corporal Carmen Kiener, Mounties in Chilliwack responded to a report of a pedestrian being struck by a train near Eagle Landing Parkway. On arrival, Chilliwack RCMP officers located a deceased male in the area that had suffered injuries consistent with being struck by a train. The male has been identified, Cpl. Kiener said, and his identity will not be released at this time as police attempt to contact his family. The B.C. Coroners Service will be working with Chilliwack RCMP to determine what led up to the incident, Cpl. Kiener said.

Since 1984, the cessation of train whistles has been in place, Mayor Popove said, but that all changed following the fatality last week.

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Besides train whistling, CN Rail has now slowed down its trains traveling through Chilliwack, Popove said.

“I’ve been caught in behind some trains four times now, and thought what’s going on here?” Popove told 89.5 JR Country. “That’s attributed to the amount of suicides that have happened on that chunk. I don’t know if people know this or not, but from approximately Prest Road to Evans Parkway, it has been documented that’s one of the worst stretches in Canada for folks taking their own lives.”

Train whistling and slowing down trains may not be enough to deter someone from taking their own life, Popove said.

“You can’t barricade often enough in such a way that’s going to stop folks from doing this,” Popove said. Speaking about mental health, Popove added, “With the mental health things that are going on, it’s happening. People are experiencing it. I feel for the (railroad) engineers, the PTSD. I can’t imagine.”

He pointed out that even by slowing trains through Chilliwack, CN Rail trains weigh millions of tonnes and don’t just stop on a dime if a person is on or near the tracks.