Railways should pay for overpasses

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• Editorial — New overpasses are on the way
• Amalgamation would pay for overpass
• Rail overpass belongs on the Bypass
• Editorial — Overpass design an improvement
• No need for the Mufford Overpass
• Editorial — Overpass inadequacy

Editor: The taxpayers of Langley and the adjacent communities are delivering a huge subsidy by paying for various rail overpasses. The cost of installing overpasses is going to be split approximately four ways, providing everyone contributes:

r the federal government — (taxpayers);

r the provincial government — (taxpayers);

r the municipal governments — (taxpayers); and

r the railway companies — (private).

Since when does the taxpayer have to bail out another private company, especially one of the most profitable ones? I’m getting tired of having my taxes thrown around in this manner and my community taken advantage of.

I consider overpasses to be part of the rail infrastructure. Were it not for the rail line, we wouldn’t need overpasses. Do we pay for their rails, or ties, or fuel, or rolling stock or bridges? No. So why do we need to pay for their overpasses?

Langley taxpayers should not pay one red cent for those overpasses. The people of Langley did not ask for the heavy rail traffic to go through Langley.

Back in 1968, they were told where it would go and that there would be only one train a day. This has now been expanded to up to 38 trains a day, and these trains are up to two miles long and will in future be parked on some double track portions of the line until they are needed at the port. Let’s see the agreement document that Langley signed to permit this degradation of our community.

Except for a few jobs like building overpasses, these trains leave nothing for Langley’s benefit except noise, some coal dust, closed road crossings and traffic jams. They do not throw bags of money off the trains; they do not even stop unless they fall off the tracks, which has happened several times.

There are other routes for the heavy rail line. I would like Langley to retroactively collect a fee for each container passing through. It is done elsewhere, so why not here? I think the Langleys are really missing the boat here.

Who is running this country — the railways or the people?

I have heard very little from Langley City, Township or organizations concerning heavy rail running at great volume through their city. I hope this is not a case of being satisfied with the status quo and being content to see the City of Langley degenerate into an industrial railway slum without so much as a whimper.

Is Langley still “the place to be?”

R. Espin,

Langley