The Canadian Pacific bridge over the Thames River just north of Oxford Street - 18 Sep 2012 Mike Hensen.

19 September 2012

Despite the Risk Many See it as a Shortcut

London Ontario - More Western students than you think cross the Thames River on a potentially deadly rail bridge, and it's not just on a drunken dare.
 
Gareth Coombes, 23, certainly wasn't the first student to walk along the tracks when he fell off the rail bridge at Oxford and Gunn streets early Saturday on his way home from Richmond Row.
 
Coombes suffered fatal injuries in the fall, which occurred while he was walking with a friend at about 3 a.m.
 
Many Western students admit to walking the tracks to get downtown from their off-campus neighbourhoods, saying it's a more direct route to the student bars along Richmond Street.
 
"I've used the tracks to get to bars, parties, anywhere really," said Jimmy Cameron, 31, a former Western University student.
 
"It seems to be a more direct route usually. When you're on the road or sidewalk you have to deal with traffic, people, cars."
 
Lined with student homes, Gunn Street provides easy access to the railway.
 
Big stones acting like steps up to the train tracks.
 
Red plastic cups and empty beer bottles could be seen Wednesday scattered along the bottom of the stones, and Cameron said he often sees cups and other bits of garbage along the tracks when he's out walking.
 
Diego Navarro, a Fanshawe student who lives on Gunn Street next to the tracks, said though he's never used the tracks to get around, his friends have.
 
Canadian Pacific has its own police force that monitors the rail tracks, which are on private property and subject to trespassing laws. The London tracks are monitored regularly and CP has mechanical staff and managers on CP property around the clock, spokesperson Kevin Hrysak said.
 
Those caught walking along CP tracks could face a $120 trespassing fine. But Hrysak said he did not know how many trespassing tickets CP officers have handed out this year, or in years prior.
 
Though CP hasn't increased staff in light of Saturday's tragedy, they upped their patrols earlier this month when university and college students went back to school, Hrysak said. He also said officers do regular trespassing and crossing blitzes to educate the public about railway dangers.
 
Still, more than 100 readers polled on lfpress.com admitted to walking along the tracks parallel to the Oxford Street bridge, near where Coombes died. And several students admitted on social media sites such as Reddit.com and Facebook that they, too, have walked the tracks.
 
That's no surprise to Margaret Cowherd who's lived on Oxford Street right next to the rail overpass for 23 years. She said she sees people of all ages up on the tracks frequently during the day.
 
"I saw a couple up there carrying groceries back just the other day," she said.
 
Cameron said it's common to see groups of students walking along that stretch of tracks on their way downtown. What's less common, Cameron said, is people journeying back home from the bars along the tracks, especially after a night of drinking.
 
Adam Tulloch, 21, a friend of Coombes, said friends of his saw Coombes out along Richmond Row Saturday at about 2:30 a.m.
 
Tulloch, who studied with Coombes at the Richard Ivey School of Business, described him as a "guy with a personality you couldn't forget." He said his Ivey classmates are planning a memorial skydive for Coombes, who talked all his classmates into skydiving together last year.
 
"He's the type of guy who made you stretch your limits," Tulloch said. "Gareth's to-do list was like everyone else's bucket list."
 
A formal memorial service is being held Friday at 2 p.m. inside the Ivey Building's main atrium.
 
RAILWAY TRESPASSING ACCIDENTS IN ONTARIO
 
27:  Accidents this year in Ontario while trespassing on rail tracks.
 
8:  People killed this year while trespassing on rail tracks.
 
4:  People seriously injured this year while trespassing on rail tracks.
 
Source:  Transportation Safetly Board of Canada.
 
RAILWAY DEATHS THIS IN LONDON YEAR
 
12 May 2012 - Trevor Barton, 20, a rising London baseball star was hit by a train and killed on the rail tracks along Richmond Street about 2:30 a.m., a time when many students are out on Richmond Street heading home from the bars.
 
28 Mar 2012 - A pedestrian was struck and killed by a train along the tracks near York and Maitland Street. According to a witness he tried to run across the tracks ahead of the train.
 
QUOTES FROM THOSE WHO ADMIT WALKING ALONG THE TRACKS
 
"I remember in my university days crossing that railway. This could have happened to any one of us. So tragic... and so preventable. Young adults certainly lack the ability to make wise decisions. I am ashamed to say that I was no better. My heart goes out to this young mans family and friends." - An online reader.
 
"Have done it before to get downtown. Would never do it to get back." - Western student on Reddit.com.
 
"I've walked them every time I've been downtown there." - Carleton University student who frequently visits friends at Western.
 
"I used to do it all the time." - Western student on Reddit.com.
 
Alex Weber.