The ex-Canadian Pacific Railway station at Westmount, Montreal - Date/Photographer unknown.

5 April 2012

Abandoned Train Station Raises Safety Concerns

Montreal Quebec - Late one night two summers ago, Joy Bennett was sitting on her back porch, waiting for her husband to come home, when she heard a commotion come from the abandoned Westmount train station.
 
It was the sound of two girls screaming.
 
"Two boys, two young men, were dragging two girls back there [behind the train station]," said Bennett, remembering what she saw that night.
 
Bennett didn't know what was going on, but took no chances. She immediately called the police, who arrived on the scene "in a heartbeat."
 
The police took over matters from there, and Bennett never found out exactly just what had happened at the abandoned train station that night. But the memory stayed with her ever since.
 
On Monday, Joy and her husband, Gary Bennett, addressed the city council with their long-standing concern.
 
"There is a space behind the Westmount train station on the railway side that is accessible to the public by simply walking around the north end of the station," said Mr. Bennett. "The big concern is that, when you're in this space, you're completely hidden from the street."
 
Councillor Gary Ikeman, who had invited the Bennetts to come forward with their concern, explained that local residents had brought the train station to the city's attention in the past.
 
"There were issues a couple years ago, when there were similar complaints. The city made some corrections to the situation and they installed some new fencing," said Ikeman. "After that, there were no more complaints. It was believed that the situation had been rectified."
 
But according to the Bennetts, the city's new fencing still leaves areas around the abandoned station for people to sneak into, free from public scrutiny.
 
"It would be a real tragedy if this continues to go on until some person drags a child into this space and molests them, when it can be so easily rectified for a few hundred dollars," said Mr. Bennett.
 
Councillor Ikeman added that the city is undertaking a complete review of the area, and that the improper fencing would be fixed before the summer.
 
Adrian Saldanha.