Mayor of Taylor criticizes delayed rail repairs on Alaska Highway

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – During the September 27th episode of This Week in the Peace, the mayor of the District of Taylor, Brent Taillefer, sat down with Steve Berard to speak about the state of railway infrastructure in Taylor. 

In the City of Fort St. John, September 23rd to 29th has been proclaimed Rail Safety Week. However, after reviewing the same proclamation request from CN Rail, the District of Taylor chose to reject the proclamation request. 

The decision not to proclaim Rail Safety Week in Taylor was due to frustrations felt by the district about the ongoing lack of repairs and continued safety issues surrounding the rail infrastructure. 

“We felt like we just haven’t been heard,” Taillefer said

The mayor spoke about the railway crossing over the Alaska Highway in Taylor, which was repaired in June, a repair he stated made it ‘probably worse than before.’

“We’ve had this crossing that’s been a problem for years now. There’s been somewhat fixes to it, but nothing that’s been done that’s been a good permanent fix,” 

CN Rail assured the district in July that the crossing would be fixed, but Taillefer explained that the company was later informed that it was struggling to find someone to take the contract to handle the repairs. 

After choosing not to accept the proclamation, Taillefer explained that CN Rail did reach out to reiterate their intentions to fix the crossing. 

“We haven’t seen it, we haven’t seen the action,” Taillefer said. 

To watch the full episode of This Week in the Peace, see below.